


Spectrum

by Madameonyx



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Masturbation, Murder, Stalking, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 16:17:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 51,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3984634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madameonyx/pseuds/Madameonyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are good people in the world, like the kind and giving Sora, but there are also less then stellar people in the world like killers and maniacs, individuals that don't see an issue with taking a life here and there, such as Roxas. And when the sides get together there tends to be sparks. Sometimes things work out. Sometimes they don't.<br/><b>I'm back!! 4/20/2017</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birth

  
**1 Year Ago**

Beer. Check. Girls acting slutty. Check. Stupid guys. Check. Yup, this was a typical teenager party. It was everything I had heard about and more and I still could not figure out what the hell was so appealing about it. There were people everywhere I turned and whenever I turned a corner there always seemed to be some drunken douche who just happened to have a beer in his hand. And of course **I'd** be the one who almost made the guy spill his precious drink, not the guy himself who was not paying a lick of attention to where he was going.

The constant chorus of inebriated laughs, giggles, and shouts had already started to drive me crazy which is why I'm making my way toward the back door. Pushing through the crowd of smoking and drinking teens in the kitchen, I ignore a swear laden protest from some guy as I push pass him. It is imperative that I get outside. I hate crowds. _So why the hell are you here?_ the voice in my head asks. I shake it off and push open the double doors leading to the patio.I don't bother taking the steps. I simply jump over them and land on the grass with a soft _thud_.

Seifer's place is flanked by thick woods and of course this being a wild party, some people wanted to go off into the trees. But it isn't like there is wildlife beyond a few raccoons and foxes so the danger is minor if nonexistent.

A girl screams from somewhere within the trees followed by a guy's laugh. Just beyond I can see fire.

I take a step toward the cluster of trees. I can get lost among them and bide my time until the party is over. Yes, that is what I'll do. I can be all to myself while still surrounded by dumbed down peers. I speed up my tread toward the trees.

" Yo! Pop Rox! " Raijin's slurred voice calls out. I clench my fists and reprimand myself for hesitating for even a second. Sometimes a second was all it took. As his footsteps come closer I dread the possibilities of what could happen. " Hey Pop Rox. " he places a heavy hand on my shoulder but I don't fight it. " How ya doin' budee?" his words are a drunken mess and sound as if they might fuse together to form an incoherent sentence. His breath smells of alcohol other than beer.

" Good. " I mutter, wishing he'd remove his heavy hand but instead he clamps it tighter around my shoulder.

" Thaz good. Thaz good. Hey, there is this gurl. She likes you a lot but she dozent have the gutz to say it to your face, sooo...." he trails off. Whether it was for affect or if he just simply forgot the next words, I don't know nor do I care.

" So? " I respond, quickly growing irritated.

" Sooo come with me. " he belches right near my face and rancid breath threatens to make me throw up in my mouth. I cover my nose as he pushes me along. Raijin stumbles beside me like an ape with balance issues and it only makes me want to just go home all the more. But I can't. I have no choice but to follow him toward the trees. I make brief eye contact with a raven haired girl who then smiles at me. I don't smile back however because I do not know her, I just let Raijin continue to push me through the trees into whatever he has planned for me.

" Seifer! " he yells out making me jump. I swallow and something drops into the pit of my stomach. Anything having to do with Seifer can't be good.

" Over here! " Seifer responds and we follow the voice deeper into the woods.

We come to a small group gathered by a lantern hanging from a tree. I immediately identify Seifer and Fujin, those two are just about always together. Three other people are here. Two guys and another girl. She has short blue hair and silver eyes. Her skirt is as short as her hair and the top she is sporting is nothing but a piece of fabric wrapped around her bosom. I guess this was the girl.

" Roxas! " Seifer grins and ushers me toward the girl. I try to keep the frown threatening to come onto my face at bay.

" This is Luna. " he gestures to the girl who waves at me with a glossed smile " Luna? Roxas. " I extend my hand to shake hers and suddenly she pulls on it forcing me to stumble forward.

" It is nice to meet you Roxas. " she speaks in a soft voice.

" Nice to meet you to. " I reply but I don't put any real emotion into it. Why fake it when I wasn't interested?

" It doesn't sound like you think it is nice. " she pouts and I immediately want to tell her to stop trying to act cute.

Suddenly someone smacks my back and I jump. Everyone laughs, even Luna. " Alright you two. Why don't you guys go to the pond for some alone time. " one guys says. I frown and shake my head. " Uh...sorry I don't think- " 

" Go have some alone time with Luna Roxas. " Seifer grins and even though it sounds like a suggestion I know it is a command. Once again I have no choice so I just nod and follow her.

I can't tell how long we've been walking but Luna assures me every now and then that we're almost there. When she pulls me through some trees, her flashlight waving, we come upon a large pond. Thanks to a lantern hanging on a nearby tree I can see the quiet and still surface of the lake. It's beautiful and so peaceful.

" Come on. " Luna says and pulls me along. I yearn to stop and turn back around.

We get to a tree and she tells me to close my eyes. " Why? " I ask. 

" I'll tell Seifer. " she says simply and that is enough to shut me up. I close my eyes and await whatever is going to happen.

Something soft is wrapped around my face and then tied. A blindfold.

" Okay. Ready? They say a kiss is better when you can't see it. " Luna says and I only nod because it's the only I **can** do. I silently await her kiss.

" One. Two. " she counts down. " Three!! " a chorus of voices yell and suddenly all I can hear are footsteps rushing toward me. 

_Fucking idiot!_ I scream silently before I feel myself being picked up.

" Hey! Wait! " I cry out suddenly feeling scared.

" Tie it to his foot. " Seifer says and I squirm like the worm that I feel like. Something thin is being wrapped around my ankle. Cord. Then there is a heavy weight on my ankle that is soon lifted. I struggle more but it does nothing but make them laugh more.

" Let me go please! " I cry out, desperate.

" You need to chill out Pop Rox. " Raijin's voices says.

" Take a dip with us Roxas. " Seifer's voice is lined with malice.

My throat begins to constrict, the tell tell sign that I'm about to start crying and suddenly I'm sailing through the air. For a few seconds that is all I feel then I hit the water and sink. Their cruel laughs the only thing I can hear before the water around me blocks it out.

I'm sinking. I purse lips shut and stop breathing but I'm already doomed because I can't swim and now I realize that the weight tied to my foot is pulling me down even quicker. It doesn't take long for my heart to notice the lack of air being delivered and soon my chest starts to pound but I can't open my mouth. Even breathing through my nose is out of the question. But instinct is turning out to be my worst enemy right now. Instinct is telling my body to fight and fail, the rising discomfort in my chest not helping at all. Instinct is telling me to open my mouth and breath in through my nose. I can't!

My lips part and water immediately invades my mouth pushing down my throat. Instinctively I try to swallow but there is too much water around me. It overwhelms me in a matter of seconds and my body is fighting a losing battle. I am overwhelmed as my chest pounds and threatens to burst. I choke and continue to swallow more water. _Stop!_ I grow dizzy and blackout.

* * *

My eyes snap open but I am only greeted with darkness. Am I really awake? I try to move but my body is paralyzed. Instead I take it slow and try to move a finger. The action is easy but I notice something. No. I **feel** something. All around me there is water. Water? I move all my fingers, grasping at a soft substance. Sand? No, too soft. Mud. Mud, mud, mud. Water and mud. Water all around me and I'm laying in mud.

I suddenly want to sit up and ironically my entire body obeys. Once again I can feel my movements in the water. Something brushes past my fingers and I immediately flinch. The touch is so...vivid. Water all around me, mud beneath me, and something just brushed past me. A pond. I was in a pond. Why though?

My head starts exploding and a rush of memories assaults me. I grasp my head as I see pictures.

Seifer and his friends in the woods. Some girl leading me through the woods to a pond. We were about to kiss when I was suddenly grabbed and hoisted up. I was tossed into the water while they laughed. They had left me to die. 

A spear of anger pierced me causing me to grasp at the thing on my face. I yank off a blindfold and look up. I can see light. Moonlight to be exact. My spear of anger suddenly starts pushing toward that light until air hits my face. It feels wonderful but there is no time for that. I swim toward the shore with a force I did not have before. Pulling myself up I rearranged myself to sit on the shore. I reached down and snapped the cord from my ankle.

There was a level of dangerous and powerful determination that rushed through me as I made my way through the trees. I feel unstoppable, like a tsunami or tornado. A part of me wants to run and be free but as I make my way back to the house that anger from before reminds me that before I can go things must be done.

 

I smell my way back to the spot where the fire was. It is amazing how my senses are crazy sharp so it is no surprise to me when I hear sobbing as I approach the area where the bonfire was. Thanks to the moonlight I can see the familiar blue hair of Luna. She is crying while muttering apologies. I smile wickedly before moving in.

" Luna? " I feign concern.

Luna looks up with a horrified expression on her face, like she has seen a ghost. _I can't wait to see you die._

I move from the shadows and smile at her. " R..Roxas? " she gasps, her face as pale as the moonlight. I nod and open my arms in a hug. Unsurprisingly she throws herself into my embrace as I complete the action. " I'm so sorry Roxas! It was just meant to be a prank! I'm so,so,so sorry! " Luna sobs like one of those women in the soap operas. I push her back and give her the warmth of my smile. Luna manages a small smile, silver eyes still red and puffy.

" I can totally understand if you never forgive me Roxas. " she hiccups.

" I'm glad you understand Luna. Because I will **never** forgive you. " I growl and tighten my grip on her shoulder making her whimper. The fear and confusion on her face make my insides dance with giddiness. " In fact, you deserve to die. " my voice slips out cold even as I continue to smile.

Luna begins to stutter as her face fills with more fear. The moment the desire fills me I grasp at her neck and dig my now sharp claws in. They went in like needles. Luna cries and I wrap my hand around her mouth. I remove my claws from her neck. She kicks me before she starts to hit me but it is like a breeze against a mountain. Useless and futile. Then she starts screaming, high pitched and loud. I can't have too much of that. Call them here, yes, but don't bring the whole damn house.

I watch as crimson lines seep from her neck. They suddenly seem so tantalizing. The smell is sweet but heavy too, probably from the alcohol. I swallow when the amount of saliva in my mouth gets to be too much. 

" Please! Please! " Luna cries.

Something in my brain clicks and my mouth opens. Suddenly my teeth are buried in her neck as she chokes out raspy cries. A moan escapes from my throat as her blood hits my tongue. So good. So wonderful. I tug at her neck but it is too forceful because I end up pulling a chunk from her now bloody throat. Her body falls to the ground as I chew the flesh in my mouth then spit it out.

" Luna! " someone yells from close by. I turn so fast I'm already facing the other direction without thinking about it. One of the guys from the group is jogging toward me though he does not yet notice me. I quickly leap into the tree and hide in the branches. It is wonderful, the feeling of being a predator. It is even more wonderful when the guy final gets here and he is screaming at Luna's dead body. Making quiet and slow movements I position myself before lunging down and landing on top of him.

" Get off of me! " the guy screams and I don't waste anytime in ripping into the back of his neck. My powerful jaws catch his cervical vertebrae and crush it. His screams are cut short as he twitches. I take deep breathes as I pull my face from the back of his neck. A feeling of pleasure burns through me making me look down and see a tent in my pants. A deep chuckle is allowed from my mouth before I reach down and unfix the button.

My hand guides my hardened shaft out into the open and I waste no time in creating a study rhythm. It is slow and steady, helping the already present pleasure increase. I've never had sex before but I have jacked off multiple times previously and this is way better than the other times. It feels so amazing that I can no longer withhold a loud moan. My grip tightens as I hunger for more. My hips begin thrusting against the dead body beneath me, my breathing speeding up. Then the pleasure reaches it's climax and I find myself thrusting and pumping desperately as an orgasm tears through my body. Finally as the waves recede I let out a shaky sigh and look toward the house.

Music still blared and people were still chattering energetically. " So the party is still kicking. " I whisper getting off of my newest victim and buttoning my pants. Tonight would be a night to remember. _Lets see how many people I can kill before the party is over._ I smile and start walking toward the house. 


	2. Give a Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selfless individuals help make the world a better place and Sora is one of those selfless people.

Sora picked up an empty cardboard box and inspected it. All sides were perfect and there were no holes in the bottom so he began putting cans into the box, three at a time. Barely anyone wanted to help pack up the canned goods, ironic sense they'd all agreed to help Sora organize the event, so it was just Sora and Kairi. They had managed to pack up thirteen boxes within the hour and now only about four boxes worth remained.

" Kairi can you hand me the tape? " Sora asked as he closed the flaps down.

" Here you go. " Kairi handed him the tape and turned to look at the high stack of boxes against the wall. " We have a lot. " she remarked with clear triumph in her voice.

Sora pulled a beige strip of tape across the edges of the two top flaps. " I didn't think we'd get this much. " Sora grinned as he picked up his box and took it over to the growing stack against the wall.

" It's all because of you Sora. You're so positive. It got a lot of people inspired. " Kairi smiled sweetly at her best friend. Sora gave a sheepish grin. He'd spread the word a lot about the food drive. Everyone was urged to donate, even if it was just one can. His brother and friends had always said that Sora's upbeat attitude and kind heart were contagious and the food drive proved that right. This was more then they'd gathered last year. Way more. Now all there was to do was pack it all up.

" So Sora? Are you coming to Riku's bonfire party tomorrow night? " Kairi asked while opening another box before starting to pack up more cans.

" Of course. Riku tells the best stories. " Sora remarked when he selected an empty box and began packing more cans. This time Sora packed four cans at a time, hoping to speed things up a little.

Footsteps passed by the door along with loud laughter. Sora assumed that the guys laughing were either apart of the football team or the soccer team. It was Friday and so only those two sports teams had practice today. Many people assumed Sora would join the soccer team during his junior year but he hadn't. As much as Sora loved soccer he just didn't feel like it last year nor did he this year.

" It's going to be in the woods on the edge of town. " Kairi continued all the while stuffing cans into her box, which was almost full. " Just before you get to the old mansion. "

The mention of the abandon manor made Sora stop momentarily. " That old place? " Sora said a bit reluctantly.

Kairi caught the doubt in his voice and grinned playfully. " Scared Sora? " 

Sora immediately pushed away whatever reservations were in his head and gave a defiant snort. " Like I'm afraid of some empty old house. " and with that Sora returned to packing the cans.

The old mansion had had various rumors swirling around it, all streaming from the fact that the Strife family just up and left one day without so much as a goodbye. They were mostly rumors about the mansion being haunted and the like. Sora however dismissed them as people just seeing some old curtains swaying from a draft. Things like ghosts were silly and while okay for the occasional scare, Sora paid them no mind.

" Lets finish these up. " Kairi said as she taped the box closed " I want to get as much done as I can before my folks come to pick me up. "

 

After Kairi left, Sora had finished packing everything in three more boxes. 

Sora checked his watch. It was almost six which meant he needed to head home. Sora picked up his black backpack before turning to his science teacher, " Later Mr. Vexen. " he smiled. The blonde haired man turned to smile at Sora.

" See you later Sora. Thanks for all your hard work. " Mr. Vexen waved as Sora walked out the door.

 

It was mostly warm when Sora stepped outside. A small breeze tickled his bare arms but that was not enough to bring relief from the stuffy heat. " Man. Just think how hot it'll be around that fire tomorrow night, " Sora muttered aloud while descending the steps. On the fly, Sora decided to cut through the parking lot instead of taking the sidewalk all the way around. Not like he had to worry about getting hit by cars or anything.

As he moved through the mostly empty parking lot something caught his blue eyes. Under a flickering light Sora saw a group of guys laughing. They were standing in a circle with their back to him. Their laughs got louder but Sora could see that it was nothing so he continued on.

" Come on guys! " Pence's panic filled voice floated across the barren lot. It made Sora turn abruptly, his heart suddenly speeding up at the thought of his friend being in danger.

" Hold still little fuck. " one of the older guys commanded and that was all that was needed to have Sora sprinting across the lot toward the group.

" Pence! " Sora yelled as he got closer. His call made the older boys look up, briefly ignoring a floundering Pence on the ground.

One guy defected from the circle and blocked Sora's path. " Well if it isn't Mr. Food Drive. Sorry, we don't have anything to donate. " he grinned down at Sora.

" Not that we would if we did. My dad always says that helping bums is just enabling them. " another chimed in.

Sora glared at the statement. Some people couldn't help themselves so it always helped when others could. Sora saw nothing wrong with food drives and the like. It was helping others and that was never a bad thing. These guys were just jerks and it infuriated Sora to hear them speak in such a rude manner. " There is nothing wrong with helping the homeless! It hurts no one! In fact it does the opposite! "

The guys just sneered and then they turn back to Pence, the one blocking Sora's path still stood in the way. " Leave him alone! " Sora protested as he tried to go around the older boy but he was grabbed and held in place.

" Pudgy here lost a bet and he was supposed to pay us back last week. " the guy holding him explained.

" And I told you I don't have it! " Pence shouted defiantly while still struggling.

" You heard him! Leave him alone now! " Sora growled while trying to fight his way out of the older boy's grasp, failing.

One of the guys holding Pence down shook his head and clicked his tongue. " See, this is the second time that you don't have it, so maybe we need to give you a reminder for next time. " he freed one hand and pulled it back, his fist balled.

" No! " Sora gasped " Wait! How much does he owe you? " 

Silence descended as the older teens looked from one another. " Forty bucks. " one said.

" Plus interest. " another added.

Sora struggled " I'll pay you. " he offered making the guy holding him let go. Sora hastily put his bag down and began to fumble with the zipper on the front pocket. He got it open after a couple of slip ups and pulled out a black wallet with a crown icon on the front. " Here. " Sora said after pulling eighty bucks from his wallet. The guy took it and counted it out loud, then chuckled.

" Nice. Nice. " then he waved to his two friends. " Lets go guys. " he then turned and walked away with his two lackeys moving after him.

" Thanks Mr. Food Drive. " one sneered as he passed Sora. Sora however was staring at a red faced Pence and so he only caught the words and not the expression that came along with them. Sora moved toward his friend.

He offered a hand to Pence " Pence...are you alrig-" Pence suddenly slapped Sora's hand away, picked up his book bag, and took off running without so much as a glance at Sora. Sora was utterly confused, not to mentioned worried, but only watched as his friend ran off.

" What happened? " Sora asked aloud in bewilderment before going back to recover his bag and head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best but the next chapter will definitely be better.


	3. Marshmallows and Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yummy marshmallows and creepy shadows are what you'll find when gathered in the woods at night by a fire.

Even though it was the weekend Sora got up before eight to prepare breakfast. It was something he had delegated himself to after finding out Leon couldn't cook. While poptarts were good and all, an even better breakfast of eggs and bacon was necessary every now and then. Sometimes Sora lamented on teaching his older brother how to cook but at the same time Sora was okay with doing it for him. His brother worked hard as a mechanic so Sora figured it was the least he could do. 

Sora did not hear Leon come into the kitchen until his big brother gave a rough cough. _He's been coughing like that all week_ , Sora remarked silently. He didnot turn to Leon right away,instead he flipped the near done bacon over then turned off the fire. The beauty of bacon meant it was able to finish cooking so long as the skillet was still hot.

Leon gave another rough cough and this time Sora turned to greet his brother. Leon looked sick, of course, with bags under his watery blue eyes and his normally healthy skin a sickly pale. Even though Sora assumed that it was the flu, the bug had been going around as of late, he was still greatly worried for his brother.

" You look horrible. " Sora frowned and went over to the fridge. He reached in and pulled out a carton of orange juice before going to fill Leon's glass. The older brother gave a low groan, ragged with mucus. 

" Sora you know I don't like orange juice. " Leon grabbed a napkin and hacked into it, giving a frown of disgust as he looked into it. Sora rolled his eyes and poured the orange juice anyway. The reason for his brother's dislike of orange juice was simple: it tasted bitter to him.

" Orange juice is good for when you're sick Leon. Besides it's not like you'll be able to taste it much. " Sora argued while moving to fill his own glass. Next Sora closed the carton and placed it on the table. The younger brother smiled at Leon when he swallowed his pride and drank the juice down. Leon emptied the glass in four gulps. " Could you taste it? " Sora teased lightly, to which Leon just shook his head. Sora held back an 'I told you so.' and just grabbed a plate off of the table.

" Not a lot. My appetite is shot. " Leon grumbled miserably. Sora spooned a fair amount eggs onto his plate, gave him two pieces of bacon, and a sausage. " Thanks. " Leon cleared his throat before picking up a piece of crispy bacon to chew on. His chews are less enthusiastic than normal, Sora noted. Being sick was truly one of the most annoying things which was why Sora was happy he inherited a really strong immune system.

Sora started filling his own plate. Lots of eggs, a few strips of bacon, and the last sausage. Just as he sat down Leon flickedon the tv. The town news channel's jingle played prompting Leon to turn up the volume.

" Trouble finds Twilight Town today. Authorities were called to the Sun Down Cafe after an employee discovered a trash bag full of hacked up body parts in the dumpster. " the news cut to a terrified girl, who Sora assumed to be the employee. Her eyes were wide with fear as she retold the events. The news absolutely shocked Sora and suddenly the food on his plate didn't seem so appetizing. He looked over to his older brother who was chewing on a piece of sausage while simultaneously watching the news. His appetite wasn't even effected much to Sora's astonishment. 

" How can you keep on eating?" Sora stared at Leon in disbelief. Leon just shrugged.

" Not like they're showing anything. " Leon lifted a brown brow.

Sora could not understand his brother's nonchalant attitude but he choose not to pursue it any further. " Why would someone do such a horrid thing?" Sora asked out loud.

" Not everyone is as sweet and selfless as you Sora. There are some sick people in the world. " Leon explained before stuffing a forkful of eggs into his mouth. " Damn, I wish my taste buds weren't so shot. " Leon grumbled around a mouthful of eggs. " So? " Leon started back up after he swallowed " You think Riku'll still want to do his bonfire tonight? ". it was Sora's turn to shrug in response.

" Riku's brave, so I don't think he'll let this stop him. Plus, " Sora picked apart the mass of yellow eggs on his plate idly " he's been planning this for two weeks. " Riku had even invited some of his other friends. Plus when Riku set a date there was a good chance that he'd keep it. Sora picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled on it, trying to reclaim his appetite.

" If someone is going around chopping people up I don't want you to get hurt. " Leon gave his brother a serious look. Sora smiled warmly at his big brother. He was lucky to have a sibling that cared about where he went. _I wonder if that person who died had family who cared about them?_ Sora then shook his head and silently reprimanded himself. _Of course they do._ " I want you to be careful tonight. Bring that switchblade I got you. " Leon gestured with his butter knife. If there was one thing his brother knew, it was blades. Be they pocket knives, kitchen knives, or swords, Leon knew them like the back of his hand.

Talking about the bonfire suddenly brought a question to the surface of Sora's mind. 

" Hey Leon? You know that old mansion in the woods? " Sora asked. Leon nodded.

" The Strifes used to live there. " Leon cleared his throat again.

" Why'd they leave? Riku told me that they just up and left. " Sora frowned slightly in thought.

Leon did not answer right away, instead he took the juice carton and refilled his glass. He took a sip and stared back at the news. " You didn't hear about it? I'm not surprised though. You've heard of Seifer Almasy right? "

" Everyone in has. " Sora replied

" Well he was throwing an after grad party at his house. Something bad happened. " Leon shrugged " The youngest Strife son committed suicide there apparently. "

Sora's expression changed to one of horror and disbelief. " That's horrible! " he exclaimed.

Leon nodded in sympathy and agreement. " Rumors started flying, of course. Both the Almasys and the Strifes were rich and influential here. The Almasys didn't want their son and the family name to be ruined so they moved away. The Strifes, well the loss of their son was more than enough to make them leave. I don't think they even cared about the family reputation. " Leon finished and Sora noted a saddened expression on his elder brother's face.

" Did you know one of them? " Sora questioned carefully, like his brother might suddenly shatter if he was too blunt. 

" Cloud Strife. We shared a lot of interests and I was the only one he liked to interact with outside of his family. The Strifes stuck to themselves and liked to remain in the shadows. Total opposites to the Almasys. Cloud was really devastated about the suicide. He stopped talking to me shortly after and then they just left without a word. " Leon pursed his pale lips but suddenly his expression morphed into that emotionless mask that Sora had come to know all too well. Then Leon looked back up at Sora, this time with a hard determined look. " Sora. Promise me that no matter how many jerks come at you, you'll remain strong. That you won't let their bullying drive away that sweet and optimistic personality of yours. Okay? " Leon's words were almost fervent and it scared Sora a bit but he nodded anyway.

" Good. " Leon muttered and finished up his breakfast. A still shocked and bewildered Sora was slow to come back around. The voices from the tv were just dulled sounds, incoherent to a distant Sora as he slowly moved his fork and picked at his food. 

 

The night was quiet and warm, a welcome relief from the near oppressive heat of this morning. Sora looked at his watch as it read nine-thirty, then he looked back toward the steps. Kairi should have been here fifteen minutes ago, so where was she? 

The news from this morning played back in his head and made Sora worry. Kairi walking all alone, the perfect target for some psycho. He pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen. In three taps he was texting Kairi. Why was she taking so long?

" Hey! " Kairi's cheerful voice called to Sora. He looked up so fast he almost got whiplash. A wave of relief washed over him as Kairi bounced into view in white shorts and a pink camisole. She dangled a black bag up in the air. " I've brought the marshmallows. " she grinned when she got close. Her smile was infectious to Sora.

" I've got the chocolate bars. " he copied Kairi and dangled his bag in the air.

" Lets go. " Kairi ushered him through the large hole in the wall leading to the woods and the moment they crossed the threshold a cold feeling seeped into Sora's bones. " Scared? " Kairi teased as she ran her finger along a row of goosebumps. Sora just frowned in defiance.

" Yeah right. " he snorted, but being careful not to make it too noticeable, he brushed the left pocket of his black shorts and noted the hard feel of his switchblade.

It was barely even a two minute walk before they reached the bonfire. The woods were small so it was less than five minutes to get from the hole to the fire.

" Woo! Bring on the s'mores! " Olette cheered and waved at them. Sora and Kairi handed over their bags to Pence, who then passed them to an eager Olette. " Everyone's here. " she smiled while digging through Kairi's bag.

Riku slipped out of the shadows with sticks in his hands. " We all here and ready? " he asked before sitting down. Everyone sounded off as they got comfortable.

" Good, Didn't want anyone to have been snatched up and chopped up into pieces. " Riku grinned mischievously. Everyone gave a slightly uneasy laugh. All of them had heard the news and all of them knew that this was the perfect time for someone to get snatched up. 

" The food drive was successful, of course. " Riku dipped his head toward Sora and everyone else clapped, giving Sora compliments. Sora blushed and tried to hide a big smile. He **was** the one who had organized the whole thing and did most of the work. 

" We should all be more like Sora! " Hayner cheered, inviting another round of claps.

Riku waited for the claps to die down before continuing. " Welcome to the bonfire. Where we shall stuff our faces with chocolate, marshmallows,graham crackers, and hot dogs. We shall also tell ghost stories and do dares. " Riku then sat back a little " Hayner had volunteered to go first. ". Everyone hooked their eyes on the short blonde boy.

" You all know about the Almasys right. " everyone nodded " You know why they left? " Kairi, Olette, and Pence shook their heads. But Sora knew.

" My brother said that some kid committed suicide there and the Almasys left because of all the rumors afterward. " Sora answered. Everyone looked at Sora, but only Kairi, Olette, and Pence went wide eyed. Hayner however shook his head.

" Nah. That's the PG-13 story. What really happened was much more dark. " everyone grew quiet and that cold from before reset itself into Sora's bones, making him shiver a little despite it being a summer night with him by a fire. Sora braced himself. What could be more horrible than what Leon told him?

" The party was for Seifer's graduation and he invited the whole senior class. But then, he decided to invite someone no one expected. They called him 'The Loner' because he was always by himself and was reserved. Some people say that he was some sort of satanist. Anyway, Seifer and his little cliche decided to play a prank on the poor guy. They threw him in a lake at the back of the house after they blindfolded him. " Hayner shook his head in pity.

" That's rude. " Kairi rolled her eyes at the immaturity of the prank.

" Total jerkbags. " Olette mumbled around a marshmallow.

" The Loner also thought so. He managed to survive, they all thought he drowned when he didn't come back up after a while, though. Needless to say he was pissed. The guy then proceeded to track down Seifer's group and then he murdered them. Fujin, Raijin, and Seifer managed to escape but the body count skyrocketed before the party was over. They said that seventy-five percent of the people at the party were killed. The police found these weird symbols drawn in blood on the walls. Poor Fujin and Raijin were so messed up in the head afterward that apparently their parents sent them away to a mental hospital. "

" And what about the other people who survived? " Pence asked, clutching the chair he was sitting on.

" Now this proves that money can do just about anything. " Hayner grinned in awe " Supposedly both the Almasys and the Strifes paid the families of the survivors to keep quiet. Seifer and his folks moved out like three days after the Strifes did. " Hayner chuckled in disbelief.

" Apparently the families of the survivors all had the same idea because a week after, they up and left too." Riku snorted then looked in the direction of the mansion. Sora followed his friend's gaze and stared into the black mass of trees. A ball of fear nestled into his gut.

" I understand being thrown in a lake can be a scary thing but was it really called for to just murder people like that? " Kairi frowned in horror.

" Like they say 'It's always the quiet ones' " Olette spoke softly, wiping a stringy trail of marshmallow from the corner of her mouth.

All of this was getting to Sora but he tried to not let it show, swallowing as covertly as possible. When Riku got up Sora's eyes followed. " Come over here. " Riku called and everyone walked over behind Riku's chair. There was an empty green bottle at their feet and Riku ordered everyone to get in a circle. " Alright. Time for a dare. " Riku leaned down and spun the bottle. It went for three seconds then abruptly stopped...on Sora by barely an inch. Sora gulped as all eyes landed on him.

" Lucky. " Pence grinned though Sora knew his words were sarcastic. 

" Alright Sora. You have to go into the mansion and bring something back. " Riku ordered.

" What exactly? " Sora scratched behind his ear.

" Something like an old book or whatever. " Riku explained.

" But no rubble. " Hayner added. 

Apprehension cut through Sora but he pushed it away and nodded.

" Good luck. " Olette and Kairi called as Sora walked away toward the mansion.

 

Sora wished that the walk to the gate could have been way longer but wishing wouldn't get him out of this dare, he realized as he stared up at the huge gate. It was locked but Sora noticed a rope latter hanging over the wall to his right. He wished he hadn't noticed it. With a futile sigh he walked to the latter and began climbing. As he threw his leg over the wall the cold returned at that moment. It is an unusual cold. One that should not have been with such a humid summer still here. Like before it seeped deep into his bones, into his being.

Sora dropped down from the wall and looked up at the empty and imposing mansion. There were still drapes on the large windows and they looked just as dead as the crawling ivy about the house's exterior. As he gaze raked over the front lawn a movement caught his eye. He looked up at the third window at the top floor on his left. _The curtain just moved. I know it did!_ But Sora's eyes saw a still window. No swaying curtains. It must have been the fear. " But there's nothing to be afraid of. Ghosts aren't real. " he told himself. But as Sora looked at the front door that cold still remained in his bones.

He quickly walked to the front door and noticed that it was locked. Well how the heck was he supposed to get in now? Sora looked to his left and noticed an open window. Riku must have propped it open for him earlier.

After shimming through Sora landed with a thud that was too loud for his own comfort. It echoed throughout the large foyer as Sora looked around. To his left a door. To his right, another door. The entire foyer was void and unimpressive even with the pretty broken champagne glass at the foot of the steps to the right. One side looked just like the other. They lead up to the second floor. Sora took a deep breath and headed into the door on the left. It was a kitchen, large and empty save for the dust and some old paper here and there. " Doubt paper will do. " Sora muttered and went back out into the foyer.

He went to check the right door but discovered it was locked. This peeked his curiosity oddly enough. A burst of courage hit him and Sora found himself heading upstairs with a renewed strength of mind. He took the right staircase and arrived at a door. He tested it and found it unlocked, much to his shock. Riku again? Sora pushed the door open and a blast of cold air hit him making him shiver. It felt like the same cold that hit him before and even though Sora could feel his courage being dampened he went on ahead.

It was a large library or study, Sora could see despite it being dark. There were three bookshelves one on the immediate wall and two others:one adjacent from the first and the other across from it. There was also a small desk. Sora began looking over the books. They were all old and smelled musty. Some of them had titles in what he guessed to be Latin while others were in English. Sora noticed a similarity between them all, they looked boring as what. He selected a green book and flipped it open. It was in English but the words were so big and complicated. He grabbed another book, this one was a bit more bigger and with a black cover. The cover had some odd writing on it but Sora could see that it was not in the English alphabet. He put the two books down so he could select another one. This one was white. As Sora pulled it out an audible click went off and it made him stumble back. He was suddenly afraid that the entire bookshelf was going to fall on him but instead a rough sound, like a mechanism working, filled the room. Sora watched as a piece of the floor next to the desk popped open. " A trap door? " he whispered excitedly. So maybe this house wasn't old and boring after all. Sora picked up his books and placed them on the desk before going down the steps into the secret area.

Sora immediately noted that it was cold down here. That unearthly cold was abundant all around him and his courage was taking a good punch but his curiosity was doing a good job of supporting him. Sora moved about down the strange hall. The walls were grey with oil lamps burning on the them, providing the only source of light. It was like something out of a movie. Suddenly a loud moan hit his ears and Sora almost hit the ceiling, not that he'd had far to go. A slice of fear bubbled in him and he could feel his curiosity weaken like a fading light, but he still went on even though a voice in his head was seriously urging him to go back, get his books, and leave.

Sora turned a corner and his heart skipped a beat. Tied up and propped against another door was a boy that looked to be older than him but still a teen. Upon seeing Sora the boy's eyes went wide and he began making urgent whimpers. Sora quickly ran over and untied the cloth wrapped around his mouth.

" Help! " he whispered harshly, prompting Sora to pull out his knife. Relief shines in the strange boy's green eyes as Sora hastily cuts the ropes away. The more loose the boy got the more he fidgeted. " Thanks. " the boy sighed and hastily rose to his feet, almost stumbling in the process. Sora went to catch him and support him but the boy just pushed him away slightly and started toward the steps.

" Hey wait? " Sora called out and the guy suddenly wheeled on him with a glare. He gestured to Sora to keep quiet. Sora catched up to him. " Why were you tied up? What's going on? " Sora pressed in a low whisper. The guy just shook his head and that only increased the dread rising in Sora now.

They headed up the stairs back into the library. Sora picked up his books and ran to catch up to the other boy now running out the door. " Wait- "

A loud scream filled the quiet of the house and Sora picked up speed. When he reached the steps he didn't see anything though. Nothing. Not even the other boy. " Where did he go? " Sora whispered to himself nervously. No one screamed like a banshee and then just disappeared. " Hey! " Sora shouted.

" Help! Ple- " Sora took off down the stairs and looked around. He headed to the kitchen and threw open the doors. There was no one there. No sign of a struggle or disturbance. Then that abnormal cold increased out of nowhere.

" Get out! " a voice snarled low from behind him. Sora whipped around and almost jumped out of his skin.

A boy was standing before him, blue eyes literally glowing with slit pupils. He bared his teeth and Sora noticed fangs. Very long fangs. The boy let out a snarl that should have not belong to someone of his age let alone a human. " Run! " a voice shouted and the boy from before appeared behind them. Sora took the lead and booked it to the front door. For some reason it felt like an eternity before he finally reached the front door. Sora then turned around.

" Ru-!" the other guy started choking as the blonde haired boy's hands clenched around his neck. Sora could note the danger in his electric blue eyes. Then those eyes land on Sora as the older teen fell to the ground. At that point fear reigned supreme and Sora bursted through the doors like a madman. A loud howl was heard behind him. It filled the quiet night but all Sora could focus on was getting over that wall and back to his friends.

Once he reached the walls he tossed the books over fist. One did not make it but that was oblivious to Sora as he sloppily climbed the rope latter. He turned and threw his legs over the wall when he suddenly felt cold breath on his cheeks. Fear was a spear that pierced him as Sora slowly turned his head. Right next to him was the blonde boy from before, crouched on the wall's narrow top like a cat. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Sora could see into the piercing blue eyes that reminded him of a predator ready to strike. The boy blinked at Sora as his snarl dropped. Sora was frozen on the spot.

A low whine slipped from Sora's lips as the boy studied him. Beautiful blonde lashes fluttered and Sora could only replay those snarls that sounded so out of place. He could only see those eyes that belong to a beast. A predator.

" Sora! " it was Kairi and Hayner calling him.

" Yo! Sora! " Riku joined and that was what bought Sora out of it. He blinked once and wasted no time in dropping from the wall. He landed clumsily, causing a sharp pain to run through his feet. " Sora! " Olette's voice is was close. Sora looked back up at the wall and saw that the boy was gone. That did nothing to quell his fears however. Sora could hear his friends getting closer but a powerful headache was mounting behind Sora's skull making it hard to focus, plus it felt like someone was digging their nails into his brain.

" Sora! We heard a loud howl, what happened? " Pence puffed, coming up to him but Sora was not paying attention, he was looking back at the mansion. The window he climbed in was now closed shut and so was the door.

" Hey Sora? " a hand slapped his shoulder making him jump. Riku was staring at Sora with worry in his eyes. " You okay? "

" Yeah. " Sora frowned.

" What was that noise? " Kairi asked and the question made Sora tilt his head in confusion.

" Noise? " he lifted a brow.

" Yeah, noise. " Pence said, moving closer. Sora looked over and saw two books: one green and the other black. He suddenly remembered the dare.

" Two books for the dare. " Sora grinned triumphantly but a painful throbbing behind his skull cut his positive feeling short.

Kairi and Olette eyed Sora like he was crazy. " Yeah, but what about the howl? " Hayner pressed. Sora frowned.

" I don't know what you're talking about. " Sora shook his head as the headache grew worse. It felt like someone was pressing an iron to his skull.

" We all heard it- " Kairi stopped and eyed Sora suspiciously. " Sora? Are you okay? "

Suddenly everyone was starting to annoy Sora. He wanted them to stop talking to him. He wanted them to go away. He wanted to go home and be alone in his room. " I'm fine. " he muttered and started walking back toward the bonfire.

" Wait! " Pence called and Sora bit back a snappy retort. " Here. " Pence gave Sora the black book making him look at it in confusion. Why was he giving him this? Didn't they need proof or something?

" You got two and we only need one. " Sora grabbed the book without looking and walked away.

" Sora! " Kairi called.

" I'm going home. " Sora hissed. More pain in his skull.

" But why? " Olette asked, only increasing the young boy's irritation.

" Scared? " Riku chuckled but Sora didn't find anything funny and grew more angry instead. Why couldn't they just be quiet and let him leave without a word?

" Good night everyone. " he retorted sourly, not caring if they were bothered by his attitude. Sora stalked off through the woods and left for home leaving a group of bewildered friends.


	4. Confront The Whispers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't stay buried forever and unfortunately for poor Sora, his memories are waking back up. But what do you do to abolish a fear? You confront it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The inspiration for the dream Sora has at the start is inspired by the 'Killer Party' promo for the upcoming tv series on MTV called Scream: The Tv Series. They finally decided to make a tv series out of that movie. Can't say I saw it coming. XD

_Sora could have sworn that they already had steaks in the freezer but when he went to look, no steaks. Guess all the work on the food drive had him forgetting minor things. But Sora did not mind having to go to the store. He has nothing to do today besides make dinner and preparing for school tomorrow._

_The streets are pretty quiet, Sora notices. Only a few people shamble about, going about their daily business but it is not surprising. The sun is setting and so most people are either still at work or at home. However that doesn't stop a seed of apprehension from burying itself inside of Sora. It is strange though. Why is he feeling fear? There is nothing wrong. The news said that the guy who chopped up that body had been arrested so there was no worry._

_Sora stops just before he heads up the steps and looks back at the hole in the wall. The memories of the bonfire are still fresh in his mind. They told ghost stories and stuffed their faces with s'mores all night and then they even had a camp out in the woods. Riku sure knows how to throw a good get together. Sora suddenly has an urge to go back into the woods but just as he turns his phone starts ringing. It is a text from Leon. It says for Sora to get home. The tone of the text feels bossy, venomous, rude. That isn't like Leon at all then again maybe Sora is just reading into it the wrong way. He pockets his phone and turns to proceed home._

_Arriving at his doorstep Sora fishes for his keys. Even though they are the only thing in his right pocket he can't seem to get a grip on them. When he finally does, the door creaks open. " Why'd he leave the door open like this?" Sora wonders aloud before going in._

_The living room is quiet save for the noise from the tv, in fact it is up pretty loud. Some race car championship is playing on the screen. Sora never understood what Leon liked about NASCAR but whatever it was did not warrant the volume to be so loud. Sora goes to turn down the tv but before he can even reach the coffee table his phone buzzes in his pocket. This time it is a text from Kairi. " Come into the kitchen birthday boy. :D " A giant smile spreads across his face. He instantly forgets about the tv volume and heads over into the kitchen._

_" Okay guys, who-"_

_Sora does not immediately process the scene in front of him. In fact it takes a little over three seconds for him to just notice the blood pooling up by the island counter. Then it all starts popping out at him. The smell in the kitchen is a mix of copper and something else he can't grasp, not that it matters. Either way it stinks and causes his gag reflex to act. Sora covers his mouth as he notices Kairi slumped against the counter in her chair. " Kairi! " Sora calls to her but she doesn't respond. Suddenly she falls over and Sora runs toward her only to stop as he sees a giant hole in the back of her neck. Her head is at an odd angle giving Sora perfect view of the wound. Even though blood is still running from the hole he can see that whatever happened most of her neck is gone. Sora is at an absolute loss for words. All he can do is let his throat constrict and struggle to breath._

_His eyes seem to have a mind of their own as they travel away from Kairi's dead body and set on Riku's. A loud high pitched wail escapes Sora as he stares at the profusely bleeding hole deep in Riku's gut. His intestines are pulled out and strewn haphazardly in his lap. So much blood covers his torso._

_" What's...what's...." Sora is unable to form a proper sentence from all the fear, horror, and confusion. His breaths are shallow and quick. What the hell is going on?_

_His pocket vibrates making him quickly reach for his phone. There is a text from Olette. " Hayner wants you to give you your gift. Come to the garage. " Sora shudders and starts typing out a quick text. He tells Olette that Riku and Kairi are dead. She does not respond. A few seconds turn into five, which turns into ten and before Sora knows it he's heading past the dead bodies in the kitchen and to the garage door. Maybe whoever did this didn't know Hayner, Pence, and Olette were in the garage?_

_The moment Sora opens the door a hot stink hits his nostrils. " No. No. No. " he whines but still pushes open the door._

_He sees Hayner first, body laying on top of a creeper. There is a hole in his chest and in his hand is his own heart apparently. Sora suddenly pukes onto the ground in front of him. His legs start dragging him deeper into the garage where he spots Olette impaled into the wall. Sora notes how tame her death is compared to the others. But mentally slaps himself._

_He then turns and sees Pence laying on top of Leon's work bench. He face is...split open. Like someone took a knife and just bisected his face. But then Sora sees how it got worse. Pence is almost split down the middle. There is so much blood spilling from him that the work bench beneath him is covered in it. Sora turns around and takes off back into the house. He runs through the living room and flies up the stares. His phone buzzes again but this time he does not answer it. What if it's Leon. He can't lose Leon!_

_Sora pushes open his older brother's door. Whoever did this couldn't have gotten to Leon. Leon knew how to fight extremely well. He knew how to use swords. Leon wouldn't have died._

_A choked gasp manages to leave Sora. His dearest older brother is laying on his bed, his body mutilated. Sora can't take it anymore. " Leon! " Sora cries and falls to the floor. " Leon! No! No! No! " his cries are loud and unrestrained. He doesn't know what's going on. All he knows is Leon and all of his friends are dead. Whoever did this was unashamed. They did not even bother to hide the bodies, rather displaying them like some sick twisted art project._

_" Sora..." the voice that calls to him is soft and cool. It floats to his ears like a soft fall breeze._

_Sora turns, not ready to confront the killer._

_A boy around his age is staring at him with a warm smile on his face, blue eyes glowing like lights and pupils slit like a cat's. The boy looks awfully familiar to Sora but that does not matter much to him right now. " Who...are...you? " Sora's voice is already ragged. Blue eyes are staring dully into another pair of blues._

_The boy walks forward and looks at Leon's body, he doesn't seem to be affected at all by the bloody mutilated body on the bed. In fact, Sora notices blood all over his clothes and hands. Then his mind manages to piece it all together but Sora does not react in the way he would have thought. Instead he just stands there._

_" You know, I didn't think I'd waste so much time on this. " the strange boy chuckles while shaking his head. Sora just watches, a part of him is trying to place this boy. He seems so familiar. " None of them tasted very good, especially that red headed girl and white haired guy. " he explains while smiling at Sora. The strange boy brushes Sora's cheek._

_" What are you..." Sora swallows and holds his head " You did this? " he looks up, blue eyes tired and baggy. The other boy nods and catches Sora's body as he begins to fall._

_" Oh Sora. I thought your brother would taste good but, he was missing something that would make him perfect. " the blonde shakes his head and gently strokes Sora's brown locks. " He was missing your sweetness. "_

_Sora looks up and notices the blood smeared on his face. Sora still is not scared. In fact something inside of him seems to have broke. Sora just doesn't care anymore. He doesn't care about anything. It is like someone sapped everything from him._

_Sora barely registers it when the blonde releases him, propping him against the door frame. He hears his footsteps walk into the room then they come back. " Here. " the blonde grabs Sora and helps him sit up. Sora does not even flinch when the odd blonde presses a bloody arm to his lips. " Drink. " he insists, gently almost lovingly. Sora does not obey. " Drink damn it! " the boy snarls and forces Sora's mouth open._

 

Sora jerks up in bed, screaming so loud it echoes throughout his room. When he finally stopped all he could do was just stare at the wall in front of him. His brain was dancing with the dream he just had. That boy looked so familiar but what was with all the blood? Why did he kill his friends and family in that dream? And why did he leave Sora alive?

Just running over the images made Sora feel queasy so he pushed it aside and looked at his clock. It was eleven fifty-nine. " What? " Sora looked at his clock, astonished. He'd slept all the way until noon? That migraine must have been something. Sora doesn't even remember falling asleep. He does remember coming home while Leon was still awake. His brother had expressed concern for him and Sora assured him that it was fine. He then went to his room, closed the door, got out of his clothes, and hid under the covers. Anything would have set his migraine off. A creak from a floor board, Leon softly knocking on his door, his alarm, anything that made noise basically.

As Sora got out of bed with a groan he suddenly remembered last night. The bonfire and the mansion. How he acted rudely toward his friends. Boy, did he have some apologies to give. The boy went over himself in the mirror. There were bags under his eyes and he looked tired. Nothing a good shower won't fix. Sora spotted a black book on his drawer and remembered the dare. He'd brought back two books. He looked at the cover, noting the strange symbols. Curiosity tried to rise in him but he was too worn out. Maybe after a shower. He blinked twice and jumped back when he looked in the mirror. The blonde boy from his dream was staring at him in the mirror.

Sora turned around but no one was there. He turned back to his mirror and was greeted by his own reflection. Sora groaned. His nightmare was following him into reality.

 

Sora had days when he just couldn't make breakfast, usually because he had to get off to school, but today he just didn't **want** to. Leon was not home and that was good because Sora didn't want to talk to anyone. That horrific dream was still fresh in his head unlike most of his dreams that simply dissolved the moment he woke up. Sora sighed quietly as he pulled out a box of pop-tarts from the cabinet. These specific flavor of sugary tarts were not his favorite, in fact he hated grape pop-tarts, but he was just too worn to care.

Sora stood at the counter waiting for them to pop out of the toaster. He felt tired, like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all, and his mind didn't want to make room for anything else but the dream. Sora blinked and was damn startled to see red running down the counters. Rubbing his eyes, Sora glanced around and saw everything in the kitchen covered in blood. It was running off the counter tops and filling the sink. The toaster oven clicked and his pop-tarts jumped out, with blood oozing from the crust. Sora's eyes went wide and then he blinked twice. Everything was back to normal. Gingerly, Sora pulled some paper towels off of the roll and grabbed his grape pop-tarts.

The sleepiness in his bones made him plop down onto the couch. Luckily the remote was right next to his elbow, so he grabbed it and flicked on the tv. The Twilight Town news jingle played as two reporters appeared.

" While it may be a good morning for some, others are not so lucky. Just yesterday a garbage bag of chopped limbs were found in a trash outside of a cafe and now, another bag has been found in a local restaurant's dumpster. To add to this horrible discovery, four local teens have gone missing. " the screen then switched to four pictures of young teenagers, one of them was a girl but what Sora really noticed was the one at the top right. Green eyes and brown hair flashed in Sora's mind. He'd met this boy! He'd had a chance to save him and he just ran!

" Authorities and the mayor have established a curfew that will start effective immediately. If anyone has any information please go to the police station. " the news then cut to a car crash before Sora turned the tv off.

It was dead quiet in the living room now while he nibbled on his pop-tart. Any hope of establishing an appetite was now gone. Sora couldn't stop thinking about the teen he had rescued. He never got an answer as to why he was tied up in that little hallway. As Sora sat up with a low groan he kicked himself. Perhaps if he had let go of those darn books he could have helped the guy. Suddenly Sora had an idea. He got up and headed back to his room.

The black book was laying on his dresser almost like it was waiting patiently for Sora to come to it. The boy frowned as he noticed a flap on the front. It had a key hole on it. " Nothing one of Leon's tools can't fix. " Sora mumbled and grabbed the book.

After searching three minutes for the right tool Sora managed to break the lock. He laid the black book open on the work bench and read the writing scribbled on the first page.

_" So that you may have our memories of friends and family. Whenever you feel alone, the coven is there."_

" Coven? " Sora muttered confused and then turned the page. The rest of the pages were thicker than the first sheet. For the first one it had a large colored photo of a very beautiful man. Long platinum hair draped his shoulders and green catlike eyes gleamed on a perfect face. The man's expression was regal yet neutral. Below the picture a name scribbled in very fine cursive. It was so fine that Sora could just barely make it out but he managed. " Sephiroth "

Sora rolled the name on his tongue for a few seconds before flipping the page. The next one had another big picture that took up almost all the page's space. The word below the picture read "Cloud". Sora snorted in disbelief. Who would be named after a cloud? Maybe it was a nickname or something? Sora went over the picture. Like the first one this man's face too was perfect. Perfect blue eyes with catlike pupils, just like the first one. A messy nest of blonde spiky hair covered his head. Sora also noticed a piercing in his left ear. He flipped to the next page. A young looking man, a bit more younger looking then the Cloud guy, smiled almost wickedly with platinum shoulder length hair, which was evenly cut, and the same green cat eyes as the first picture stared back. "Kadaj" the name read.

The following picture was of another younger man who looked very similar to the Sephiroth guy. Long white hair, green cat eyes, but unlike the first man this one had a smile and said smile looked almost smug. " Yazoo? " Sora frowned at the odd name. He shook his head and flipped to the next page. Another man, not much older then the other two, stared back at him. Same platinum hair but it was short and messy, he also sported sideburns and the grin on his face was glowing with a playful danger. His name was Loz and his eyes were just like the other two. Sora then thumbed through the pages, briefly looking at pictures of places he could only wonder about. This Sephiroth was in many of the pictures, either by himself or with one or two of the other guys. Sora turned the pages, curiosity blooming in him, and landed on a picture of a baby.

The little thing was smiling around it's white pacifier with big blue eyes. Lots of golden blond hair covered his head. He looked a lot like the Cloud guy, Sora noted. His attention was then brought to a note scribbled beneath picture. _" Our sweet Roxas, a miracle of science."_ Sora frowned even more. What did that mean? His mind did not feel like trying to comprehend it though so he just flipped through the rest of the pictures. It was when he glanced back over a sepia colored photo that he noticed a date. December thirteenth eighteen-ninety-two. Sora closed his eyes and thought for a moment then looked at the picture.

The same guys from the first two pictures were there, one holding a dead buck and the other a dead bear. In the corner of the picture was the same date scribbled in black marker. The two guys looked the same age in their color photos. Sora then started going over some more, comparing the old photos to the new ones and noticing a striking similarity. All of them looked to be the same age throughout all of their pictures, the only difference being the clothing. 

" I'm seeing things. " Sora suddenly sighed and stretched his arms, relishing the sweet release of tension. He shut the book just as the kitchen phone rang. He grabbed the book and went to catch the phone. The caller ID said Kairi.

" Hey Kairi. " Sora answered.

" Hello Mr. Attitude. " she replied making Sora wince. Oh yeah, those apologies.

" I'm sorry about last night. I just had this painful migraine and I...I just..." Sora didn't know how to go beyond that.

" It's okay. We forgive you Sora. Even me and Olette want to get away from you guys when it's that time of the month. " Kairi admitted. Someone talked in the background causing Kairi to pause. " Oh, that was Pence. He says to meet us at the ice cream parlor. " 

" Kay. I'll get ready. " Sora smiled and hung up. 

 

The ice cream parlor was pretty crowded, which was unusual, but that might be because of the news. Sora was standing right across the street from the place where the most recent crime happened. He could see people pointing with their forks and whispering as they stared across the street. The place had been roped off by yellow tape with a police car stationed out front.

Sora tapped the black book in his hand. He had brought it with him without even realizing it. _I must still be sleepy._ Sora rubbed his blue eyes and looked around. Kairi and Pence were no where to be found. Just then his phone went off in his pocket. He took it out and swiped the screen. It was a text from Pence saying that they got held up and they'd be here shortly. Sora rolled his eyes. Sometimes it felt like he was the only punctual person in the group.

" Holy shit! " some shouted. The loud sounds of motorcycle engines took over the air before two large black bikes went flying past. Everyone stared in awe and some even tried to snap a picture. Sora watched as they drove past and noticed them from the pictures. The last two guys. The long haired man glanced at Sora making the boy's heart skip before he and the other guy disappeared from view, only their motorcycles leaving behind their loud sounds.

For a couple of seconds Sora was frozen to the spot, replaying that look in his mind. Those green cat eyes that seemed to slice through his very being.

" You should return what you've stolen. " the deep voice made Sora jump almost three feet off the ground. Sora turned and saw a pale skinned man standing before him. Long black hair gently blew in the wind and powerful red eyes practically drilled into Sora's soul. 

Sora was at a loss for words. Who was this man? Then the guy pointed at Sora's hands. Sora was too busy noting the perfect black nails to pay attention until he finally snapped out of it. Sora held the book defensively, like he might get it taken away or something. " I don't know what you're talking about. " his response came out so forced that even Sora wouldn't believe himself. The man stared and narrowed his eyes.

" You should return it, before the owner comes looking for it. " the man then turned and walked toward the crowd.

" Wait! " Sora called out but the man melted into the crowd. Sora frowned. He was right though. _This is someone's photo album. I'm sure they'd want it back._

Sora turned back around and spotted Kairi and Pence pushing through the throng of people. Kairi waved as they ran toward him.

" Hey Sora. " she smiled and he waved at her.

" You don't look too good. " Pence frowned as he studied Sora's face. Sora shook his head.

" I'm just a little tired. I didn't sleep well last night. " Sora explained and yawned. His lids feel like they're going to drop any second now that he thought about it.

" Maybe some ice cream will wake you up. " Kairi chirped and gestured toward the parlor. Sora managed an energetic smile and lead the way. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes the world changed, literally. There were dead bodies all over the ground, pools of blood everywhere, and Kairi and Pence lay in front him. A large hole in Kairi's neck was gushing blood while Pence laid out, almost completely bisected, his halves pushed apart in a V fashion.

" Sora? " Pence called out and Sora snapped out of his nightmare. " Come on Sora! " Kairi beckoned and he hurried forward. He needed to return what he had stolen. Tonight.


	5. Trespassers Will Be Welcomed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora goes back into the mansion and is...treated rather decently.

The smell of spices and tomato sauce filled the entire kitchen. Sora calmly mixed a big bowl full of olives, garlic, onion, green peppers, chopped chicken, and other ingredients while he went over his plan. Phase one was actually making dinner. Sora didn't want to risk raising Leon's suspicion so he just went along like he normally would've until it was time.

Sora put the big bowl of filling on the counter and went to turn off the pot of boiling lasagna noodles. Next he ducked under the counter to fetch the strainer and was back up in a second. 

" I thought you were making steak tonight. " Leon yawned while stretching in the opening to the kitchen. Sora shook his head. No steak. It reminded him of his dream and he didn't feel like having more visions of blood, especially while he was cooking. While he was out with Kairi and Pence Sora kept having visions of their dead bodies somehow talking to him. It was distracting and he swore that that red eyed man was watching him. If returning that photo album would fix all of this then so be it. Besides, the more Sora thought about it the more he realized that what he did was basically stealing regardless of the fact that the house had been abandoned, or rather mostly so. Stealing wasn't good. Just because a house was vacant didn't mean that the stuff in there belonged to everybody. Also since there was a full freaking library in there the Strifes obviously hadn't completely moved out.

" Leon? " Sora began as he coated the bottom of the glass pan with olive oil.

" Yeah? " his big brother's voice was much closer now. Sora didn't answer back initially, instead he put the strainer in the sink and picked up the heavy pot of pasta. Leon rushed over. " I've got it. " Leon slipped on some oven mitts and grabbed the large pot for his little brother. Sora smiled in appreciation.

" Did you know any of the other Strifes? " Sora finally asked, the photo album coming back into his mind.

Leon nodded his head as he emptied the big silver pot. " There was Sephiroth, the head of the family, Cloud, and the triplets: Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. " Leon finished, Sora having recalled all three of the triplets' names in his head a second before Leon said them. 

" No sisters or a mom? " Sora pressed curiously. He hadn't seen a single female in that photo album.

" No sisters and Sephiroth and Cloud are married to each other. Why are you so interested in them? " Leon then turned to Sora with the pasta filled strainer in his hands. " You didn't go inside the mansion did you? " Leon's tone had gone somewhat stern and Sora suddenly felt like he'd done a crime.

" I..did. It was a dare. " Sora stopped himself from going further. He did not want to reveal his plan in any way.

Leon sighed and shook his head as Sora started lining the glass pan with pasta. " Sora, you know that is trespassing right? " 

" But the place is cleared out and nobody lives there anymore. " Sora argued weakly. _Then why was that guy tied up? And that boy. I saw him in the photo album._

Leon tapped the counter and fixed Sora with a reprimanding look as if to say 'You know better then that.'. Sora bit his lip and started spooning some filling into the pan being careful to not shovel out too much at once. " I think they still own it. It was only recently that they moved out. " Leon raised up and walked over to the fridge.

Sora was bewildered. How had he not heard about the events that lead up to the Strifes leaving? How had he not even really known about them? Their youngest must have gone to school with them but Sora couldn't remember anyone in his school that could be related to them. A pang of unnecessary guilt hit him. Sora was too busy being popular and kind to everyone else to have noticed that a boy was so miserable that he had ended up committing suicide.

" Whats the matter Sora? " Leon looked his younger brother in the face. Sora had not noticed that his expression had changed. His dim reflection on the marble told him he was sad. 

"Did this boy go to my school? " Sora asked while layering more pasta in the pan.

" He did actually. " Leon took a sip of water. That only made Sora feel worse.

" I could have helped him Leon. " Sora finished layering and began spooning the last of the filling into the pan " I could have kept him from committing suicide. " Sora went on before putting in the last of the pasta.

" Sora, you didn't know him at all so you couldn't have possibly known he would do what he did. " Leon frowned at his younger sibling. Sora just nodded but deep down inside he felt hurt for some reason.

 

Sora had forgot that the curfew was in effect tonight but he figured he could get past the roaming police officers. In fact he didn't even run into trouble until he came to the hole in the wall. A police man was standing guard right by it. Sora clicked his tongue in thought. How would he get past this guy?

As if the Fates themselves had heard his contemplation, a loud fit of laughter erupted into the night. It made Sora duck behind the staircase and into the shadows as the guard went jogging off in the direction past him. Sora took off the moment the guard disappeared, not daring to look back until he cleared the hole and was within the dark protection of the trees. Sora started slowing down as he stalked through the trees and came to a full stop when he could just make out the faint outline of the gate and wall. Sora multitasked, opening his backpack to fetch the rope latter while moving toward the wall at the same time. Once he managed to pull the latter out Sora gazed up at the wall. It was dark, last time Riku had been nice enough to leave a little candle burning for visibility. Sora wasn't daunted though, he just squinted his eyes and threw one end of the latter over the wall. A few corrections and Sora was good to go.

The rope latter was nowhere near as firm as a regular one but Sora managed to climb up it. He moved up a foot and just then the latter started moving! Sora's heart immediately jumped but he refused to let go. Maybe he could just explain why he was here? Yes. The police would understand if he explained. Sora and the latter were suddenly yanked over the wall but when Sora expected to hit the ground he was greeted with a surprise. It felt as if someone was holding him under his arms. It was all quiet for a second and then Sora began kicking like a rabid child.

" Hey! " a deep, gruff voice growled as Sora's foot connected with something.

" Let me go! " Sora flailed but it was clear that his actions were leading nowhere.

" Will you quit it kid! " the man shouted, clearly irritate. But Sora refused to quit it. What if this guy was the killer and he was going to chop Sora up and put him in a bag to be thrown in some random dumpster? Leon wouldn't know he was dead until a news crew discovered his remains.

" Loz?" a much cooler voice called out into the night. Sora stopped struggling as it reached his ears.

" What do you have here? " the voice was much closer now and it made Sora's insides melt. It was so cool and soothing. A strong urge to spill his guts suddenly washed over the teen. A flash of light hit the ground before the beam trailed up to his face. 

" I found this kid scaling the wall. " silence " Can I eat'em? He looks and smells so tasty. " the gruff voiced man suddenly whined. Sora started flailing again, this time with high pitched whimpers slipping from his lips.

" You're still hungry? " that cool voice sighed, and it managed to bring a panicked Sora a little peace despite the words " Wait a second. " then " Why are you here little boy? " the question was aimed at Sora making him calm down much more.

" Return...I..took something from this house and I was just returning it. " Sora squeaked out.

" Can I eat him after he gives the stuff back? " the one known as Loz, begged like a child. There is no answer except for the feeling of a hand clutching Sora's arm before he was pulled out of one man's grasp and into another's. This one had a more gentle, yet still firm, grip. That enrapturing calmness from before flowed through Sora's veins.

" Why don't you come in. " and Sora could only nod like he was in a trance.

" Yazoo! Just get the stuff and- " Loz was promptly cut off by a low hiss. He then issued a grunt of annoyance.

Sora was lead into the house and noted that the foyer looked a bit different. He couldn't exactly tell why but he did notice something that wasn't there when he was here Saturday night. The door on the right was cracked open and despite his looming curiosity the brown haired lad fought the urge to be nosy, lest he catch the ire of one or both of the men.

They led him up the stairs and Sora instantly recognized the door to the library. Wait. How did they know he needed to go to the library? The short haired man pushed open the library door.

" Roxas? " the cool voiced man Sora had come to assume was Yazoo, called out. His voice was melodic and so perfect. Now that Sora thought about it, even the gruff guy's voice was wonderful.

" Yeah wha-" a soft and younger voice stopped and Sora was now face to face with the boy from before.

Bright blue eyes remained wide for less then a second before narrowing, oval pupils becoming slits instantly. Sora went rigid but the blonde boy's expression suddenly softened. " You came back. " his voice was low, and filled with relief. Sora found himself suddenly pushed forward, stumbling almost. Suddenly the boy was in front of him with hands out helping Sora steady himself.

" So, I can't eat him? " Loz asked carefully.

" No, you can't. " Roxas glared at Loz making Sora more confused. Loz grumbled as he was pushed from the room by the longer haired man. The door closed shut behind them with a soft click making Sora tense up.

" It's okay. " Roxas suddenly smiled and Sora was transported back into his dream for a split second but he quickly snapped out of it. His brain kept flashing the event of Saturday night in his mind. Roxas snarling at him like a beast, then him strangling that guy who went missing. Why was Sora just standing there when he could be killed? He then realized that he couldn't move, at all.

" I'm sorry but, you might run away. Also I want to ask you a few questions. " Roxas's voice held softness and honesty. It reassured a part of Sora that he wouldn't get killed. Roxas gently led Sora, the still confused and somewhat fearful boy's legs seemingly moving on their own. Roxas then pushed Sora down into the chair behind the desk with the utmost care " Why did you take those books? " Roxas asked carefully. _Oh yeah._ Sora suddenly remembered his backpack. He pulled off his black book bag and opened the zipper. 

" Here. " Sora said handing Roxas the black photo album and red book back. " Sorry I took them and sorry, I sort of opened the photo album. " Sora apologized meekly. Roxas inspected the lock, like he was able to see it's inner workings before shrugging. " Why did you take them? " he asked again. Sora rubbed his messy brown hair.

" It was a dare. " he admitted shamefully. Roxas raised his lip in a small scowl before placing the books on the red oak desk. When he looked back at Sora the scowl was gone with a warm look in it's place.

" Do you remember what happened last night? " Roxas further inquired. Sora swallowed and nodded, those two things being the only things his body could do on command for now. How could he ever forget what had happened? " Where did you find that guy?" Roxas continued with a calm passion. Sora pointed to the floor, making Roxas nod and mutter something, but his lips moved so fast Sora couldn't catch it.

" You're not going to kill me are you? " Sora suddenly choked out. Roxas looked up, startled. Sora could see hurt in his eyes and suddenly a jumble of apologies rushed to the brunette's lips but were stopped by will. Why should he be apologizing?

Roxas smiled at Sora, and Sora noticed warmth, sweetness, and...affection? Roxas suddenly got on one knee and Sora's confusion only increased. " I'd never hurt you Sora. " the blond placed a hand on Sora's knee " I like you Sora. I don't hurt people I like the way I like you. " Sora blushed getting ever more confused.

" Um..how do you know my name? " Sora rubbed his shoulder as if it would ward away the awkwardness that was creeping.

" I used to go the same school as you. I'm not that social so you probably didn't know I existed. " Roxas grinned up at Sora. " But you, Mr. Food Drive, everyone's heard of you. " Roxas then laid his head in Sora's lap like was no big deal.

Usually Sora would have smiled like an idiot at the acknowledgement of his good deed, but this whole situation felt too awkward. Sora had no problem with Roxas being warm and friendly to him, it was much much better than that other guy talking about eating him, whatever that meant. But even Sora had his limits and Roxas just laying his head on his lap like that was one of those limits but Sora couldn't command his legs to move either. And was Roxas laying his head in Sora's lap that bad? _No._

" What happened to that guy? Why was he tied up in your basement? " it was Sora's turn to press. Roxas did not give a reply until after two seconds of silence.

" He left shortly after you did. He was a _thief_ trying to steal something that did not belong to him. " Roxas replied dryly. If the question was a gnat Roxas would've absently swatted it away.

Sora winced at how Roxas spat the word "thief". It was full of venom. Technically Sora was a thief as well since he stole those books. Sora bit his lip for the second time that night. It was time to leave.

" Um, again. Sorry I took your books. " Sora smiled weakly and moved to get up. He was a little shocked with Roxas was suddenly standing up before him. He must have fast reflexes. Sora grabbed his bag and closed it before walking to the door. Just when he reached the door Roxas was once again, ahead of him. _I must be sleepy. I need to get home._ Sora rubbed his eyes. Roxas opened the door for him.

" I'll take you home if you like? " Roxas smiled at Sora. Sora couldn't help but give a smile, albeit a weak one.

" There's a curfew and I wouldn't-"

" Who cares about a dumb curfew. " Roxas snorted all too happily. Before Sora could argue Roxas was pulling him toward the front door. When they reached it Yazoo walked out of the kitchen with a champagne glass in his hand. Sora noted the deep red liquid in it. He briefly wondered who drunk wine at midnight but the thought was washed away when Yazoo gave him a smile. 

" Leaving so soon? " Yazoo inquired playfully while sweeping a strand of long white hair out of his perfect face. Sora nodded. " Very well. Roxas remember there is a curfew in effect. " Yazoo gave him a look that Sora could not understand. Sora caught Roxas roll his big blue eyes out of the corner of his own. " I got it. " Roxas smiled and pulled Sora out the door.

When Sora realized that they were going through the woods he tried his darnedest to stop Roxas but the other boy proved to be surprisingly stronger than him. " Roxas? There's a guard.." Sora tried to explain. Roxas just shrugged as he pushed open the gate, tugging Sora along. " Can you not pull my arm out of it's socket? " Sora pleaded. Roxas loosened his grip but did not let go of Sora.

They quickly made their way to the hole and Sora started getting nervous. " I got this. " Roxas whispered reassuringly and shockingly they walked right through the hole and past the guard without him even noticing, even though he was right there. Sora wondered in awe but refused to open his mouth for fear of them being seen.

 

They finally made it to Sora's house and boy was Sora relieved. Now the visions of horror would stop and he could stop feeling guilty. Everything would go back to normal.

" Thanks for walking me home Roxas. " Sora grinned. Roxas grinned back and finally let go of Sora's hand.

" Glad I could help. " Roxas replied.

Sora turned and walked to his door. He fished the keys from his pocket and carefully inserted them into the lock, being carefully to not make noise. He unlocked the door as quietly as possible and gingerly opened it.

" Sora? " Roxas suddenly called out.

" Yeah? " Sora turned his head.

" I'd like to hangout with you, under more normal conditions. If that's okay with you? " Roxas smiled. Sora walked back over to Roxas.

" Well, I don't have school on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday so we can hangout then if you'd like? " Sora offered. Roxas nodded, his bright blue eyes shinning in the night. Sora chuckled and waved before going inside. He made sure to close the door gently, only letting to knob turn back when the door was closed He then tiptoed up to his room to try and get some sleep. He had to wake up in six hours.


	6. Keep Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ball is rolling now and Roxas is determined to keep moving forward but life isn't filled with just Sora. There's a reason his kind sticks together in groups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sudden hiatus my lovelies but now I am back! Enjoy this chapter as I introduce a monkey wrench into Roxas's plans.

  
**Roxas**

His scent was amazing, of course what would he expect from someone like Sora? Roxas could hardly stop giggling like a school girl while he made his way home. He'd listened to Sephiroth tell the story of how he and Cloud had met. His father had used words like "complete" and "whole". Cloud made him feel like his reason for living was much more clear, which had slightly confused Roxas because at the time he could not properly understand how a person could somehow make another's existence so much better. But now? Now Roxas was beginning to grasp the idea.

Roxas as grasping Sora's wristband as he stepped through the imposing gates. The wind suddenly kicked up and Roxas just barely sensed someone in the yard with him. Even though the feeling was faint he could still tell that it was not either of his uncles but it still felt familiar. Roxas sniffed the air, a strong and commanding smell almost like cologne, filled the young boy's nostrils and further pulled at his memory. " Who's there? " he called out, relaxing his muscles so he was ready to move if need be.

" One of the most deadly foes of a young vampire is inexperience Roxas. " an all too familiar voice uttered from behind him. Roxas just shrugged. He was a young vampire and often fell prey to the mindset of being invincible, his gift of enhanced speed only inflamed it. " I can outrun most threats you know. " the teen snorted defiantly, then " I'm not a child Vincent."

The red eyed vampire blinked " Most _human_ threats you mean? And no matter how fast you are Roxas, even an experienced hunter can slow you. " the elder vampire chided him to which Roxas just stuffed his hands into his pockets and lets his mind drift to thoughts of Sora. " Did the boy return what he took? " Vincent's voice was now closer making Roxas look up. He nodded before turning and walking to the door. Before Roxas could get within ten feet of the door Vincent was already there and holding it open for him. Without thanking him the young blond strolled in.

The foyer was empty but Roxas was able to hear someone moving about upstairs in the study, most likely Yazoo since Loz can't get interested in a book for even a second. " Sephiroth and Cloud are coming by later on today. " Vincent informed Roxas. Roxas zipped over to an armchair placed haphazardly in the middle of the foyer and flopped down into it. The seat offered firmness and a nice cushing making Roxas nestle deeper into the chair. Maybe he'd sleep right here? 

" You mean I don't have to come to them for a change? " Roxas mockingly gasped before resting his head against the high back of the ruby chair, then the young boy flashed his elder a smile. Roxas was still invigorated from his brief walk with Sora. " We're moving too slow huh?"

Vincent shrugged and opened his mouth to speak when the sound of a door opening silenced him. Roxas glanced up along with the raven haired vampire to watch Yazoo in all of his alluring glory drop down from the second floor with a book in hand. " Hello Vincent. " the silver haired prince smiled. Vincent offers a charming smirk in return, the gesture alone was all of the response needed. Yazoo then turned to Roxas and laid the book in his nephew's lap. " Help me pack up the books. I want them all packed up before they get here. " Roxas rolled his blue eyes but hopped up anyway and leaped up to the second floor.

" They won't have much to steal after tomorrow. " he heard Vincent say to Yazoo who gave a short chuckle.

" They'd probably take the chairs if possible. " Roxas heard Yazoo reply before he invested his full attention into clearing the shelves.

_Just another way of telling me to finish up._ Roxas stared to the right of the oak door. The entire bookshelf was empty with ten boxes stacked neatly against the bare ceiling to floor bookshelf. The matching bookshelf adjacent was only half empty. Roxas wasted no more time in getting to it.

_You've already got a partner Yazoo and his name is Reno not Vincent._ however Roxas didn't dare say it out loud though, he just quickly pulled the various books from the shelf and placed them neatly into the box in two rows. He did this for a minute before stopping to tape the box up and open another empty one. As he continued his chore Roxas could still hear Vincent and Yazoo chatting but he resisted the distracting urge to tune in on their conversation. Instead Roxas let his mind trail back to Sora again. Roxas couldn't wait to see the brunette boy again. Hell, maybe he might walk him to school, unless Yazoo had another job for him later on. Roxas swiftly filled the current box and taped it up, moving on to a fourth. That one filled up a bit faster as Roxas picked up the pace. In another two minutes the entire wall was empty with two stacks of boxes up against it. Roxas glanced over at the other wall with only two medium sized bookcases but did not move to them immediately, instead he leaned up against the old desk.

He dug about his back pocket until he pulled out a black wristband. Roxas brought it to his face and inhaled then he moved over to the window to stare out into the night.

Somewhere outside a bird called out into the quiet. Roxas's gaze went past the gate and into the trees ahead while his mind went back to the night of Sora's little break in. And to think, he hadn't thought that anyone would come, what with the missing persons and all, of course that all changed when that white haired boy decided to bust one of the front windows open and leave it like that. With the lack of nails and a hammer there wasn't much Roxas could have done. Besides, Roxas was bored then and so he figured another body or two to add to the warning pile wouldn't be so bad. But then fate decided to drop Sora into his lap and that was very kind of fate.

Roxas clicked his tongue, sparring a few more seconds to glance out at the trees before turning and grabbing some more boxes to start on the rest of the books. No need to make a quick and easy job take longer then it already had.

 

Everything was clean, perhaps Roxas used a little too much bleach; and everything that needed to be put away was. The only things left were a few armchairs and a couch. Roxas lounged in the same red chair from before while he played with his phone, not even vampire youths were immune to the draw of the newest iphone. _Should have got Sora's number._ he thought for a few seconds before he returned his attention to the mobile phone in his hand. Oh well. 

Roxas swiped his perfect little fingers across the screen making three purple grape candies explode. That same finger poised over a red jellybean for a second before moving to another candy. Roxas studied the screen but his mind was alert, patiently waiting for his fathers to come in. The young vampire wasn't big on emotional greetings, he'd say hello when they got in the house.

After a four more minutes passed Roxas picked up the sound of heavy footsteps followed by the door knob clicking and the door creaking open "Too lazy to come and greet us? " came his eldest father's voice. Roxas peeked from around the chair and grinned lazily. Ironically all it took was for Sephiroth to beckon his son with a simple "come hither" motion and Roxas was there by his father's side. " How have you been? " Sephiroth asked before gently ruffling his only son's head.

" Good. " Roxas snorted with a smile " We're just moving the rest of the stuff not planning an attack. " At that Sephiroth's expression grew hard.

Sephiroth glanced around the foyer, that cold inspecting mask still there, then back to Roxas. " Good boy. If the rest of the rooms are like this then we'll be able to leave as soon as tomorrow. " His words suddenly made Roxas step back as if the very action would bind him to the house.

" Uh, I might have to stay longer. " Roxas said to his father. The platinum haired vampire eyed his son coolly before walking around him and heading up the stairs. Roxas followed right behind him,knowing that his father would want a proper explanation. " I think I've found him. " Roxas continued as they moved toward the study. The boy waited for Sephiroth to answer but his sire did not at first, instead he opened the door and looked around after which he went in.

" You _think_ , Roxas? " Sephiroth echoed, before bending down by the side of the desk to remove a piece of carpet. He dug around in his coat and pulled out a knife to pop open the trap door and when he did a jumble of scents filled the room.

" Yeah. " he replied, his father's skeptic tone made him feel a little dejected. " I've known him since I was human. He doesn't know me though. " Roxas added to reassure the old vampire but the lack of a reply from him told Roxas it wasn't very convincing. In fact Sephiroth seemed more interested in gently inhaling. Roxas did the same but smelt nothing out of the ordinary. " Something wrong? " Roxas leaned forward. 

" This scent. I recognize it but I can't put a name to it. " Sephiroth muttered.

" Oh! You're probably smelling Sora. " the young blond chirped. Just mentioning the other boy's name made Roxas feel nice. His father's long locks fell forward to obscure the man's perfect facial features. Once again Sephiroth said nothing right away and it was starting to pick at Roxas's nerves a little. Just spit it out.

" Going off of your happy tone I'll guess Sora was the one you were talking about? " he did not wait for a response from his son " And thus I can safely assume you did not kill him? " Roxas parted his pink lips to reply but was cutoff. Apparently Sephiroth was not yet done. " Going by the differing ages of his scent I'd hazard a guess that Sora has been in this house, twice now. " he finished in a cool tone.

Roxas wasn't sure if his father was angry or just disappointed, the man never got loud or explosive when he was angry he just got cold. Really cold. "I uh..." Roxas swallowed as he tried to push the words out " Sora stole something and so he was returning it. " white locks danced as their owner nodded.

Before Sephiroth could say anything more Cloud's voice came from the foyer giving Roxas the perfect chance to leave and avoid anymore of his eldest father's probes. Then luck was even nicer and had Cloud calling out for Roxas giving the boy an actual reason to leave. Without a word Roxas zipped away back toward the foyer.

 

As the morning drew on and the sun rose Roxas found himself yawning as the claws of sleep dug themselves deeper into his mind. Cloud and Sephiroth had swept the entire mansion to make sure everything was packed and ready to go and that nothing would be left behind. Nothing. Of course with Yazoo's annoying, though in this case handy, attention to detail everything was good. Not even a spot of blood was left on the dusty floors.

" I still don't see why both of you needed to come. " Roxas stretched out, propping his bare feet in his young father's lap. " I'm sure just one of you would have been fine. " he remarked.

" An extra pair of eyes is always good. " Yazoo answered.

" Suck up. " Loz teased which only got an eye roll from the alluring Yazoo.

" There is a more serious reason for the both of us being here. " Sephiroth interjected. His tone declared a sternness that seemed to kill what small amount of playfulness and fun was in the room. While all eyes weren't on him all of their attention was. Sephiroth had that kind of effect on people. " Shinra had an incident. An attack by an old enemy of ours. Luckily Reno, Rude, Kadaj, and Tifa fought them off.

Roxas frowned " What does that have to do with us? " he yawned, clearly ignorant of the potential severity of the issue. Sephiroth walked over and sat down in an armchair, rested one leg over the other and shook his head at his son's lax attitude. He pulled out his silver phone and swiped at the screen a few times before holding up the phone for all of them to see. Not surprisingly only Roxas did not react with silent anger. " And the big deal is? " the little blond shrugged. Cloud squeezed his son's ankle rather firmly, telling the boy that his lack of 'proper' interest was an issue.

" This symbol " Roxas blinked up at a picture of an arm tattooed with a hammer over an angel's wing " is the calling card of an ancient hunter clan. We've ran into them in the past." Sephiroth explained.

" We kicked their asses to. " Loz grinned heartily.

" After which they went silent for a long while. " Yazoo came in.

Roxas caught Vincent lean forward from behind Yazoo's chair. " It appears they're back. Could this an attempt at revenge? " his deep velvet voice spilled out. Sephiroth just shrugged in thought. All of this was just making Roxas more confused. What was the big deal? So Shinra had got attacked by hunters. That was a common occurrence in their world, besides Shinra could claim self defense to the United Council so it wouldn't be an issue. Sometimes his elders could really jump the broom.

" Shinra hasn't gotten back to us yet. " Cloud spoke up.

" In the mean time we need to take precautions. " Sephiroth instructed. Roxas gave a silent groan. _Here we go._ " We hunt _only_ when needed. " he eyed Loz who tried to act innocent but failed " The body disposal is to be concise, clean, and out of sight. Go after those whose disappearance won't make waves. "

" Kinda hard to do that here. " Roxas retorted quietly. _You can do a lot better then hacking up the body and throwing it in a restaurant dumpster._ Roxas tensed a little at his father's voice in his head. _Yes, we know._

" And _do not_ draw unnecessary attention to yourself." Sephiroth finished. Roxas fidgeted slightly in his position. This could prove to be an inconvenience to the whole Sora thing and Roxas would be damned if that happened. He'd just found him and now this was happening. He and Sora had plans for this week. They were going to hangout and get to know each other more.

" Roxas? " Cloud's voice grabbed him. Big blue eyes looked at his father. _Lets go into the study._ his voice was now in Roxas's head. Roxas kicked his feet over the edge of the couch and was up, following Sephiroth with Cloud moving after them.

" What's up? " the teenage vampire asked after Cloud had closed the door to the study.

Sephiroth leaned against a bare space of wall adjacent of Cloud who stood in front of the door. " Let's talk about you and Sora. " Sephiroth began. Roxas gripped the desk, being careful not to cause splinters in the wood. Of course this had to effect him too.


	7. In The Inebriation of the Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Partying with friends is fun, mix in some peer pressure and watch what a loose mind can open itself up to.

  
**Sora**

Sora wasn't sure what woke him up out of his sleep first, the smell of smoke or the smoke detector, either way it had him jumping out of bed and scrambling downstairs to the kitchen. As soon as Sora got downstairs a cloud smoke assaulted his lungs making him cover his mouth. " Crap!" came Leon's voice followed by a fit of coughing. Sora instantly jumped into action and raced to open the sliding glass door in the kitchen

" God Leon what happened? " Sora frowned while he stood outside to get some air before going back in to access the situation.

" I was hungry so I tried to make a breakfast burrito. " he nodded to a red tablet propped up on a small stand. The screen displayed instructions which made Sora shake his head in pity. Not even following instructions could keep his older brother from nearly burning down the kitchen. Sora gestured for Leon to move aside, fanning the smoke out with his other hand, and made sure the pilots were off. " You make it look so easy. " Leon grinned sheepishly while he stood back and watched his younger brother clean up his mess.

" It _is_ easy Leon which is why I'm at a loss as to how you could've caused the smoke detector to go off. " Sora rolled his blue eyes. It wasn't like the older Lionhart was trying to make a roast or something. Cooking eggs was one of the most easiest things to do which was why Sora was relieved to find that the culprit was what used to be four strips of bacon. They lay black and smoking in the skillet, shriveled up and probably not even edible anymore. Sora noticed that the bacon was the only thing on the stove. _Dear god Leon._ , Sora thought and picked up the skillet to inspect it. A blackened bottom but nothing that couldn't be washed off after a little soak in soapy hot water.

" Do you still want one? " Sora asked. 

" Yeah. " Leon replied. Just then his phone went off prompting Leon to glance at the screen. His eyes went wide before he snatched up the phone. " Hello? " a pause " Hey! " Leon suddenly exclaimed with a bright smile.

As he listened to his suddenly chipper brother Sora pulled out another skillet. _Who has him so bright?_ Sora wondered as he went to place the skillet on the stove. Leon didn't have a girlfriend or boyfriend as far as Sora knew. The boy's curiosity danced as he went along, listening to Leon's short responses between the sound of sizzling bacon and the running faucet. However his eavesdropping came to an end when Leon left to move into the living room.

With Leon on his phone in the living room and mostly out of earshot all Sora was left with was to focus on making the older Lionhart's breakfast. Sora eyed the bacon which was steadily turning darker and starting to curl, telling Sora that he would soon need to flip them. He pushed the handle down on the sink head when suddenly the phone rung at the same time. " I'll get it! " Sora called out. He picked up the wireless phone in the kitchen " Hello? "

" Good Morning. " Riku's sleepy voice drawled from the other end. Sora smiled and went back to the stove with phone in hand.

" Just getting up? " Sora asked before opening the fridge to pull out the egg carton. Riku replied with a sleepy grunt then a chuckle followed by another, strained, grunt. Sora could only guess he was stretching which made the young boy laugh for some reason. " You know I thought you would've still been sleep right now." Sora remarked putting the eggs down and grabbing a fork to flip over the bacon. The hot pork slices gave a loud pop and a small amount of grease splattered onto Sora's collar bone.

" What was that? " Riku muttered.

" Bacon. Leon almost burned down the kitchen trying to make a breakfast burrito. Luckily he didn't get very far. The bacon was the only thing he had on the stove. " Sora explained. That earned an astonished laugh from Riku. " Sometimes I wonder what he would do without me. " Sora shook his head before heading back to the fridge for hash browns and sausage.

" Starve. " Riku snorted " So? You ready for the concert tonight? "

" Yea-" Sora suddenly frowned as he remembered Roxas. He told him he'd be available today and with no way to contact his new friend Sora was in a bit of a pickle.

" Sora? " Riku cooed from the other side. " You there? "

" Uh Yeah. You know I just remembered, I told a friend that I was open today. Totally forgot about the concert." Sora sighed. The tickets were bought and Riku had only purchased two for the now sold out concert. He really should've gotten Roxas's number. 

" Oh. Well, I'm sure they'll understand your absence. " Riku reassured him with clear lack of interest for the third party.

" Yeah, you're right. " Sora agreed reluctantly as someone shouted in the background for Riku.

" Aw crap, gotta go. Stupid grass. Seeya tonight." the same person called again making Riku shout back before hanging up. _Sorry Roxas._ Sora said silently and went back to preparing Leon's food.

" Sora can you get the door? " Leon called. Sora frowned, not having heard a knock at all.

" Busy making you breakfast. " the young boy responded. Leon's footsteps sounded when out of the corner of his eye he saw his older brother go for the door.

" Cloud! " Leon exclaimed which made Sora almost drop the skillet he was holding.

The teen dared to look up from the stove and watched Leon hug someone in the doorway. That name rung a bell so when heavy footsteps approached the kitchen Sora instantly recognized the blond man who entered. Cloud smiled at Sora, almost like he knew him. The blue eyes seemed to glow before the pupils briefly slit. It sent a chill down Sora's spine as he was momentarily reminded of Roxas on that night.

" Bacon's burning. " Cloud nodded to the stove but it took Sora two seconds to process it before hastily spinning around to turn off the skillet. What was with him zoning out whenever it concerned people relating to Roxas?

 

" You've grown Sora. " Cloud remarked with a small smile. Sora gave a weak smile. He didn't remember Cloud much, in fact he only knew the man by name. Though Leon said he and Cloud hung out Sora could not remember seeing the man even once until now. " Thank you by the way. " the man suddenly said. Sora could only flex his brow in confusion. " For bringing back what you stole. " Cloud clarified. This made Sora's heart jump, then a mad blush colored the boy's cheeks. " Not many would've returned what they took. We appreciate that. "

Sora just shrugged as his smile grew, then he looked up at Cloud. Questions were starting to bubble in his mind like what exactly was a coven? And how was it that Cloud looked the same as he did in a picture taken in eighteen freaking ninety-two? Sora parted his lips to let something come out but he could barely figure out where to start. His mind rushed to find a question before Leon came back down stairs. After that Cloud would most likely be preoccupied with his brother.

" Sora? " Cloud tilted his head at the boy.

" I uh, met Roxas. " Sora managed to get out. _Nice one. Want to tell him the color of the books you took too?_ Cloud nodded before digging into his pocket to pull out a slip of white paper which he handed to Sora. Sora looked at it and saw a number. "Uh.."

" Roxas. " Cloud had to clarify again. Sora made a silent 'O' and nodded.

"Thanks. " Sora grinned then a well of clarity suddenly rose within him. " Why is it that you look-"

" Sorry to keep you waiting Cloud. " Leon came into the living room putting Sora's questioning to a stop before it could even get started. The older Lionhart was dressed in a pair of black pants and a grey long sleeve shirt that hugged him a bit close. Sora watched as Cloud's gaze went to Leon followed by a smile that made Sora's eyes widen a bit. Either he was seeing things or Cloud's teeth looked sharp. Very sharp. And his blue eyes looked like they were growing brighter.

" If I weren't married Leon. " Cloud chuckled then shook his head. Sora saw something flicker in his brother's eyes before he turned to Sora.

"Uh, Sora why don't you go upstairs. I need to talk to Cloud. " Leon gestured for his little brother to leave the room. Sora just got up and obeyed. _What's with him?_ Sora wondered as he made his way through the kitchen. When he got to the steps he stopped and pulled out the paper Cloud had given him. Well at least he could get in contact with Roxas now.

 

There were crowds everywhere with some people lounging on folding chairs while others stood. There were small groups dotted about hanging around cars which made it a little difficult to find Riku. " Riku! " Sora called out as he made his way through the large parking lot. " Ri-"

" Yo Sora! " came the slurred voice of Tidus. Sora turned and in that instant Tidus wrapped a strong arm around the younger boy. " Lookin for Riku huh? " he continued in his slurry speech to which Sora just nodded. Tidus let out a loud belch making Sora grimace at the foul stench of beer and something else. Tidus noticed this and laughed. " Sorry man. Had some beer and oysters. That shit is _good_!" he exclaimed as he steered Sora over to a large pickup truck. Sora could see someone playing with sparklers but no sign of Riku.

" That sounds gross Tidus. " Sora grinned at which Tidus burst out laughing. " Anyway, where's Riku? " he pressed.

" He went to the bathroom a minute ago before you got here. He'll be a second, though in the mean time " Tidus stopped in front of a cooler and reached down to pull out a can of beer " have a drink. " he handed Sora a beer to which the younger boy frowned then shook his head.

" Anything else? Like nonalcoholic things? " Sora asked eyeing the can suspiciously.

" NooOOOpe!" Tidus belched and dangled the beer in front of Sora. Sora took it, albeit reluctantly. He inspected the can as if it could have been laced or something. He'd never drank any sort of alcohol before but he had seen it's effects. If Tidus was anything to go by then Sora was content to wait until they went inside to buy something from the food court.

Sora watched as one of Tidus's friends went around and got into the cab. No one else seemed to notice until loud metal music erupted from the truck. A chorus broke out all around the parking lot as Sora almost jumped six feet into the air. " Scare ya? " Sora jumped again and wheeled on the person behind him about to fix whoever it was with a glare but his gaze softened.

" Riku! " Sora smiled. Riku wrapped an arm around his friend and pulled him close. He then gestured to the beer can in Sora's hand. " Oh! There's nothing else so. " Sora shrugged. Riku only lifted a white brow before taking a swig of his own beer. _Riku drinks huh?_ Something pricked at Sora's mind but he pushed it away. Instead he focused on Tidus who was now chugging a new can down. As everyone started cheering Tidus on Sora looked up and saw Riku going along with it.

" DRINK!DRINK!DRINK!" the group chanted and even though Sora wasn't chanting along he _was_ smiling at Tidus's antics. Finally the group cheered as Tidus came to a stop. He held a silver beer can up in the air, Sora noted it was bigger then the other one from before. " Hey Wakka why don't you have one? " Riku asked at an older looking teenager who was seemingly content with just sitting back in the truck bed.

" Someone's gotta drive your drunk asses home. " he laughed before the rest of the group followed. Once again Sora just offered a smile. Maybe it was because everyone, minus himself, in the group seemed some degree of drunk but Sora just didn't see what the heck was so dang funny. Maybe he had to be drunk to see it? He cast an unsure gaze at the cold beer in his hand, unopened and seemingly waiting for Sora's decision. Riku was drinking but he seemed more in control, not as drunk as the others. Sora gently bit his bottom lip. What was one sip? He swallowed moved to open the can when suddenly a loud announcement went out over a loud speaker.

**The concert will be starting in ten minutes! Get in line!**

Suddenly everyone started moving about, throwing empty cans into trashcans and bags. Sora was secretly glad that the announcement had came when it did. Looking around he found a trashcan and dumped the unopened beer into it. Sora 1, Peer Pressure 0. " So? Ready for the best concert of the year? " Riku asked him as they started walking toward the admission gates.

" Yep." Sora responded then looked at Riku. He suddenly realized that he had never really looked at Riku since he got here. The white haired teen was dressed in baggy punk pants, Sora noted a red bat image on the bottom of one leg, outline against the black. They sagged slightly giving Sora a small peek of Riku's boxers and when his eyes landed on them the brunette blushed a little. Quickly he switched his gaze to the sleeveless ripped graphic T-shirt Riku was sporting. _Riku's all decked out._ Sora thought, then he thought of himself. Nothing but a pair of fading black jeans and an old Tim Burton shirt. The goodhearted teen couldn't help but view himself as a plain boy compared to Riku, who looked like a punk prince.

" Um, thanks for inviting me Riku. " Sora gave a coy smile up at his best friend. In response Riku wrapped an arm around him and Sora couldn't help wanting to burrow into the older teen's embrace but he exercised control and resisted the urge.

" No prob. I'm really glad you wanted to come. Remember when we used to do stuff together as kids? " Riku lightly patted Sora's shoulder.

" Yeah. I used to follow you everywhere. " Sora laughed. The two boys were practically inseparable while growing up. Best friends forever was what they were and still continued to be but about a year ago Sora noticed a change. When he looked at Riku he saw his best friend but for some reason it was like that wasn't enough. He wanted more beyond that but he just couldn't bring himself to speak up. Better to keep an already good thing then to ruin it on a chance of something... _more_. Sora cast his blue gaze down as a well of sadness bubbled up in him.

"Lines don't look too long. " Riku observed making Sora look back up. He was right. While the lines weren't short they weren't long either. Sora estimated about a 4 minute wait and even then the band wouldn't get on stage for about another six minutes.

They stood in line, not talking to one another but just moving along with the other people ahead of them. It felt like an hour but eventually they presented their tickets and went on through. When they got into the stadium Tidus, Wakka, and the others were already there and waving them over. " Catch Riku! " Tidus tossed a silver thermal to Riku.

" And this is? " Riku inspected the thermal before unscrewing the cap and nearly choking. Sora smelt it too. It smelt like alcohol. Tidus sure loved alcohol. " Never mind. " Riku grinned before going to take a seat. 

" So Sora? " Tidus leaned over " Never pegged you for a IPS fan. " the blond smiled sheepishly. Sora shrugged. Honestly, Sora had never heard of InnerPartySystem but Riku had invited him and turning him down was not something Sora wanted to do.

" I like to try new things, within reason. " Sora grinned. Suddenly Riku coughed and held out the thermal, a sour expression on his face. Sora couldn't help but giggle at his friend's expression.

" How can you drink that?" Sora asked him.

" Tolerance. Once you get past the burn it starts tasting good." Riku took another gulp " Just gotta drink. " and he did, again. Sora shook his head before turning his attention to the stage. A group was setting up, the opening act, and everyone else was now settling down for the show. The noise eventually died down as people waited for the band to start.

"Gotta go to the bathroom. " Riku muttered and rose to his feet. " Can you hold this Sora? " he handed his friend the thermal before shimmying down the row of seats to get out. Sora looked at the thermal then rolled it around in his hands. The metal container was warm and felt heavy telling Sora that there was still a lot left. 

" Tolerance. " Sora echoed. Next he unscrewed the cap and was immediately assaulted by a heavy smell. It felt as though something was pressing down on his throat but he pushed passed it and raised the thermal to his lips. Next came the taste which had Sora removing the thermal from his lips in a second. The drink tasted bitter and had Sora coughing a little. _How can Riku drink this?_

" Whoa Sora. Taking a walk on the wild side. " Tidus grinned at him like he'd just accomplished something great. Wakka gave a whistle as he lifted a brow in amused disbelief. Sora screwed the top back on. " Remember Sora, tolerance. Just keep drinking. " Tidus made a drinking gesture before looking back at the stage. Sora swallowed, his throat a little heavy from the fumes, before looking at the stage.

 

Sora remembered Riku playing music like this in his car once before but the younger teen had never bothered to ask who it was but now he knew. Turns out he'd listened to this group before without realizing it and they were wonderful. It'd been so long since him and Riku had had this much fun together. Just the two of them. As they swayed about, Sora's mind floated through a haze of inebriation. He'd finally taken the plunge and boy did he enjoy it. Now wonder Tidus liked to drink. It was like all of one's troubles disappeared.

**I want you to notice! What you've been missing! I want you to feel that! Feel that deep inside of you!**

He giggled like an insane person whenever a drunken Riku grabbed him and pulled him into a dance. The influence of the cocktail had Sora melting into Riku's hold as they swayed against one another. It also ignited Sora's passion for the older teen but neither of them could properly see that at the moment. No, they were too busy losing themselves and no one seemed to care enough to stop them, probably because their friends were enjoying themselves as well.

"Mmmm, Riku that tickles. " Sora muttered as the white haired teen trailed his lips down Sora's neck, however he did nothing to stop it. In fact Sora tilted his head to the side and allowed Riku more permission to trace his neck. Then his and Riku's lips met and just as with their previous actions they let themselves go. A hunger claimed Sora's mind, urging him on. Each time his tongue swiped Riku's he wanted more and more. Eventually it got to a point where Riku was practically biting at Sora's lips which made the boy start pulling away.

A loud whistle went out next to making Riku pull back and erupt in laughter. " Get it Riku! " Tidus cheered as he made his way over to them. A somewhat confused and still drunk Sora laughed too though he had no idea what it was he was laughing at. Then as if to put a damper on his fun, a feeling of apprehension nestled in Sora's belly and he didn't like it so he found Riku's thermal and gave it a shake. A swishing sound greeted Sora so he raised it to his lips and took another gulp. Almost instantly he could feel the warm alcohol wash away any and all bad feelings. His mind swam as the band on stage announced there last song for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Innerpartysystem - Obsession


	8. A Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night's not over yet. Things can still go wrong or right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's ch. 8 finally. Ch. 9 will be late because I'm going to start another story.

  
**Roxas**

Roxas leaned up against the wall and watched with an impassive expression as Loz literally ripped into a poor girl's neck like a starving beast. Sephiroth had told them to stay under the radar which meant clean kills and yet here was Loz almost about to behead the girl. Roxas rolled his blue eyes. " Do you have to be so savage? " the youngest vampire asked from position against the wall. Loz continued to sloppily lap at the blood gushing from the corpse's neck before stopping and then looking up at his nephew. He gave a blood covered smile, sharp teeth glinting in the dim light of a nearby neon sign.

"She tastes good. " he chuckled and raised the dead body up by it's head. " Want some? " he offered as he licked the blood off from around his mouth. Roxas sniffed then frowned slightly.

" She's been drinking. " Roxas observed before shaking his head " If I want to get drunk I'll down a bottle." 

" It's not even enough for you to get buzzed from. " Loz retorted still holding the body out to Roxas who just declined by shaking his head once more.

" Go nuts. " the young blond snorted.

" Not that he hasn't already. " Yazoo's cool voice floated from further down the poorly lit alley. Roxas smiled at his middle uncle, a playful glint shinning in his eyes. He walked over to him then turned and latched onto his arm.

" Where's your boyfriend? " Roxas teased to which he received a quiet bark of laughter from the long haired vampire.

" Burning in an old oil drum somewhere in the tunnels. I'll be checking in on him before we go. " Yazoo responded casually.

The sound of loud laughter filled the air. Roxas could hear groups of people moving about in large numbers. The concert was ending and so crowds of drunken teens were pouring out. _Wonder what Sora's doing?_ He scented the air trying to find the scent of his dear Sora but he couldn't thanks to alcohol drenched body odor all over the place.

" Properly dispose of that Loz. " Yazoo's voice pulled Roxas out of his zone. He watched his eldest uncle pick up the body and throw it over his shoulder with the head looking like it might fall off with the slightest jarring movement. " You'll leave a trail. " Yazoo pointed behind Loz. He looked back and just shrugged at the blood smeared on the ground, making Yazoo roll his eyes. Roxas couldn't help but smile at his uncle's lack of care but he couldn't help adding in his own words.

" You have to keep under the radar like the rest of us. " Roxas said in a mocking tone. Yazoo slipped from Roxas's grasp to go over to a box. Out of it he pulled a large black bag and handed it to Loz.

" You mean like how you chopped up body parts, put'em in a bag, then threw'em in a dumpster? " Loz fired back before sticking out his tongue. Roxas gave a light hiss in response. Was he going to hold that over Roxas's head forever?

" Not eating tonight Roxas? " Yazoo asked.

"Still upset you couldn't go the concert with your little boyfriend? " Loz teased while stuffing the girl's body into the black trash bag. Roxas dropped his positive attitude and let a slight scowl form on his face.

" Stop it Loz. " Yazoo reprimanded. Loz just grunted something before moving past them.

When Loz had disappeared into the darkness Yazoo placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder. " Is there a reason you didn't want to go tonight? " he asked, his smooth and gentle voice calming Roxas with every word.

Roxas sighed before looking up at the night sky. " I want Sora and I to do something together. By ourselves, not with his friends tagging along." he took in the scents again to find them stronger. More people. " If I have this time limit on me then I need to do this with minimal distractions and having his friends around could be an issue. "

" They might influence him to feel otherwise. " Yazoo guessed. Roxas didn't say anything. " Why do you feel as if there is a time limit on you? " Yazoo continued. Roxas frowned and stared down at the ground. A flare of frustration was growing inside of him just thinking about it.

" Sephiroth said that an old enemy is coming back and we have to be careful. We're about to completely clear out the mansion which means that soon I'll have to leave. Yazoo, what if they come and..." Roxas balled his fists and swallowed, forcing his frustration to go down as well. This wasn't fair.

" Sounds like you might not have a choice Roxas. " Yazoo replied and when Roxas opened up his mouth to argue Yazoo raised a finger to silence him " If you truly believe time is short then you might have to take what you can get. If Sora wants to hangout with his friends and doesn't mind you coming along then take that. You might win him over faster that way. "

Roxas thought about it and then nodded, catching the point. " You're right. " Roxas puffed, giving himself over to the situation. If he was short on time then he didn't have the luxury of wooing Sora over a long period like the others did for their special person. He'd have to step it up. Be more proactive. Maybe start dropping by the house or school. " Yeah. " Roxas muttered to no one in particular then he brushed his woes asides and listened out.

Ecstatic laughing bounced off the walls along with approaching footsteps. Rapid heartbeats drummed in Roxas's ears, accentuating the excited scents flowing from the main street. The footsteps got closer causing Roxas to move closer to the alley's opening until he was just a step away from coming out onto the street. The footsteps stopped, someone's heartbeat picked up, then someone vomited and disgusted, yet amused, protests went out. _Who isn't drunk tonight?_ Roxas rolled his eyes before stepping out into the open.

He could see a group of four older looking teens to his left. One was bent over a box and in the process of puking his insides out, a girl was standing behind him to rub his back, another girl was standing farther away in the poorly lit shadows texting on her phone, and another guy was leaning against the wall next to the phone girl. _Hello Mr. Cool._ Roxas focused on Mr. Cool. The poor lighting did not impede Roxas from studying his target. Somewhat tall, well muscled, black hair, and calm. Roxas licked his lips as his mind slipped into hunt mode and suddenly the people before him weren't people anymore but rather food. Nourishment. Creatures whose deaths wouldn't so much as flick a sense of concern within him. A sultry smile slipped onto Roxas's lips as he turned on the charm. His blue eyes made contact with the older guy causing the other teen to look up and lay his eyes right onto Roxas.

Mr. Cool covertly looked Roxas's way, head held low with his green eyes peeking out from raven bangs. Roxas's mouthed a silent 'hello' while still keeping his smile. Mr. Cool seemed a little unsure causing Roxas to gesture to the alley then give a wink. Finally Mr. Cool seemed to get it.

" I, uh, gotta go take a leak. " he told his friends. Roxas turned and started walking into the alley as the boy's friends called out. They were given words of reassurance before hurried footfalls caught up to the little vampire. Roxas briefly noted Yazoo's absence before turning back to his food.

"Keeping secrets hm? " Roxas smirked as he pushed the other boy against the wall and began to feel on him. " What's your name handsome?"

" Daren and I've got enough problems. " Daren laughed quietly " If my friends find out about this it might get to my parents and then.." he made a face that told Roxas that the result would not be good. Roxas clicked his tongue against his teeth, making a mock pout face.

" You poor thing. " he buried his face into Darn's gray shirt and relished his scent. Though it was tinged with alcohol it was light unlike the others. Roxas then looked up and stepped backward to gently pull his dinner deeper into the alleyway. " Less likely to be seen by your friends. " Roxas explained quietly. His target just nodded as he was pulled into a very dark area behind a stack of crates.

" So are you gonna suck or-" Roxas made Daren's breathing hitch as he lapped at his neck while one hand gripped his shoulder and the other slid down to unbutton his pants. Within seconds Roxas was stroking the raven haired teen's member at a steady pace all the while sucking on his neck. " Th-that's nice. " Daren gasped. Roxas smiled when he felt Daren's member grow hotter and more solid. Quick, breathless gasps filled Roxas's ears making his feral instincts rise fast. 

" You're depraved cutie." Roxas muttered between licks and then looked up at him with a grin showing his sharpened teeth. " But it's alright. You won't have to worry about your sexuality anymore. " Roxas purred. Daren's eyes widened, bright with a primal sense of terror, and as he parted his lips to scream Roxas reached for his head then snapped the teen's neck all in one fluid motion. Roxas looked back when he heard feet shuffling up ahead however no one came too close. He smiled down at the dead teen before crouching down and biting into his neck.

What would've tasted like just copper and salt to a human gave so much more to Roxas, a vampire. As he expected, there was alcohol in the dead young man's blood but the amount wasn't much. Overpowering that was the sweetness of it, like drinking liquefied caramel popcorn. It was so nice that Roxas found himself taking big gulps that drew him in further along with the rising hardness in his pants. He paused to unbutton his own fly then reached down past the lining of his boxers to brush himself. He teased himself with light feathery strokes causing him to let out a heavy and muffled sighed. Pausing for a second Roxas swallowed another mouthful of blood and then went on.

This time Roxas took a firm hold of his cock and began stroking rigorously. If he'd been in the privacy of the mansion he could have rode the body but with three other people just around the corner it was too risky.

As he continued on his hips began to thrust up and down with a wonderful heat rushing to envelope his groin. Since he had his mouth full of his victim's neck Roxas allowed himself to let out a loud muffled moan. With each firm stroke he gulped a little blood and relished the taste.

"What the hell's taking him so long? " the distant words almost didn't register to Roxas. Almost. He increased his strokes to bring himself to the edge much quicker then he would have wanted. " I'm going to see. " the same voice spoke again. _Shit!_ Roxas let out a muffled growl of frustration before he finally came. " Alcohol makes you piss a fucking river. " a guy explained.

" Barely had any. " a girl's voice retorted.

Roxas hurriedly snatched off a piece of his victim's shirt and quickly wiped himself off before getting up to look around. He could hear heels clacking against the ground as they headed toward the alley. With blinding speed he went back near the alley's opening and grabbed a big trash bag, then zipped back to the body and proceeded to swiftly stuff it into the black plastic. 

" Yo Daren? What's taking so long? " a girl called. Roxas cursed, he could tell she was moving down the alley now and it made him agitated. He was short so if he propped the bag over his shoulder he'd end up dragging it but did it really matter? With a soft grunt Roxas awkwardly hoisted the body over his shoulders and took off into the darker recesses of the alley. When he reached underground tunnels he stopped to adjust the body before completely dropping it.

" Loz! " he growled, still angry at having his fun rushed. A few seconds later and the rugged vampire appeared from the shadowy underground entrance. " Help me with this. " Roxas pointed to the bagged body. Loz said nothing and just picked it up, easily slinging the body over his shoulders like it was nothing.

" What's biting you? " Loz asked, the usual teasing in his voice oddly absent.

" I couldn't enjoy it. " Roxas grumbled as they moved deeper down into the tunnels.

The flat lights dotting the ground gave the passages a small amount of light in addition to the occasional overhead light in the bigger rooms. The air down here was much cooler and smelled dank yet clean. The perfect place to stash bodies until it was time to burn them. Roxas and Loz turned left at the end of the passage and proceeded past three rooms until they came to the fourth where an odd gray glow danced about on the walls. There in the upper left corner stood Yazoo next to three old oil drums and two of them were burning with a black fire. Roxas watched while Loz dumped his victim's lifeless body into the third drum. " Come here." Loz beckoned his nephew to his side. Roxas watched as his eldest uncle pulled out a small black box and flicked the lid open.

" You need to learn how to dispose of bodies in a clean manner. " Yazoo explained to which Roxas just rolled his eyes.

" I know how to do that. " Roxas snorted before staring at Loz's outstretched hand. In it were two small silver cubes which Roxas took in confusion.

" Throwing body parts in a bag then throwing them in a dumpster is not the proper way to do things. You see how effective that has been. " Yazoo wagged a finger at Roxas " That's how we make black fire on the go. " he gestured to the cubes Roxas was holding. Roxas stared at the cubes and couldn't believe that these small things could make enough fire to burn a whole body.

" M'right. Rub them together. " Loz commanded and gestured at the body.

" _Over_ the body. " Yazoo added.

Roxas did as he was told and positioned his hands over the body.

" Get a spark on a shoe or something. " Loz advised.

" Yeah, yeah. " the boy muttered before grinding the two stones together. A rather large glowing white spark bounced onto the pant leg and in two seconds there was a small fire eating away at the leg, shoe and all. He then made another spark, this one hitting the other leg and starting a slightly more bigger fire until the entire bag was burning in a cover of black flames.

" And that's, how we do it. " Yazoo smiled before coming closer to examine the scene. Roxas looked over and saw that the drum on the end was burning low.

" So, how long does it take? " Roxas asked.

" Depends on the body mass. " Loz yawned " Mine'll be done in another two minutes and I started it about five minutes ago. Plus, " he glanced down at the middle drum " she was pretty scrawny. Surprised I got sated. " he chuckled in disbelief. Roxas looked back at Yazoo.

" What about your's? " the small blond inquired.

" Another minute. " Yazoo stretched out his long arms.

Roxas walked over to Yazoo's and watched in mild wonder as the black fire ate at the body or what was left of it. He could see a charred face that was quickly giving way to blackened bone. When Yazoo placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder Roxas simply blinked.

" Quick, clean and efficient. This is one way we keep our tracks covered. It is a necessity so remember it well. " Yazoo explained in a low tone.

" Well it's stupid. " Roxas muttered knowing full well he could be heard " We shouldn't have to hide like shadows. We're running from humans for fuck's sake. " he spat, anger suddenly boiling in him like lava. Roxas turned his back on his uncles and walked a ways back toward the entrance before letting out a heavy sigh. No one said anything, probably because this had been done before. Roxas was able to go into his pockets to fish out his phone without interruptions from his uncle. He quickly brought up Sora's name and sent him a text.

**{Roxas: Enjoy the concert?}**  


Roxas waited a bit but Sora did not respond. _Most likely busy with his friends._ Roxas lightly chewed on his bottom lip while he contemplated just going out to find Sora. Him dropping in couldn't hurt and it would ease away some of his stress. Yeah. " I'm going to meet up with Sora. " Roxas said and without looking back or waiting for a reply he left.

Finding Sora was easy, having an item that belonged to him really helped, so in five minutes Roxas was standing on the roof of a book shop looking down at a group of teens around a truck. He crouched down and watched as two guys playfully shoved one another about, one with blond messy hair and the other with red hair that came to stand up on it's own at a point. Roxas scowled as he laid eyes on the blond haired boy. He knew him and his red headed friend. " Missed you at the party Wakka and Tidus. " he muttered before spotting Sora, who was slumped over the side of the truck looking horrible. Roxas noted he smelled sick. This prompted him to jump down into the alley before quickly striding over to the truck, ignoring the confused looks he got from the group as he approached.

" Sora? " Roxas whispered softly as he looked his object of affection over with concern. Sora let out a low groan and when he set his blue eyes on Roxas the vampire could see the boy was pale and looking like a wreck. Roxas smelled alcohol on him and for a brief moment he was shocked.

" Um, who are you? " Roxas heard Wakka speak up. Roxas ignored him and focused on Sora.

" Oh Sora what have you done to yourself? " Roxas whispered. He tried to remember the spell Sephiroth had did on him when he'd gotten food poisoning in the eighth grade. It was simple, he knew that, now if only he could remember it.

" Never drink alcohol Roxas. " Sora moaned to which Roxas gave a dry laugh.

" Too late for that Sora. " he grinned as he placed a hand on the other teen's sweaty forehead. Roxas focused his energy and pictured all the sickness and pain dissolving. He willed his energy into healing Sora and watched as those blue eyes started clearing up. Suddenly Sora jerked up then threw his head over the side of the truck...to puke. Roxas scooted out of the way but kept close enough to rub Sora's back as he vomited. He wasn't sure if that was supposed to happen but he did remember having to puke himself after Sephiroth had done the spell.

" Ugh. " Sora coughed, apparently getting the last of his ailment out.

" Want to go get some water? " Roxas offered. Sora gave a loud exhale before nodding. Roxas watched Sora like a hawk as the boy shakily moved toward the end of the truck bed. His friends helped him down though Sora was more sure of himself when walking over to Roxas without help. When Sora was back within reach Roxas placed a studying hand on his back. " I never would've pegged you for a drinker. " Roxas grinned.

Sora suddenly became bothered. " I'm not! " the boy protested defensively " Honest! It was just-"

" Okay. Okay." Roxas chuckled with a slight frown " I got it. Peer pressure sucks huh? "

Sora nodded, relief on his face. Roxas couldn't help but fawn over how Sora was such a straight arrow. He'd have to change a little when it was time though.One could not stay as innocent as Sora when exposed to the supernatural.

When they reached the glass door of the book shop it swung open and out came a familiar snowy haired teen. Roxas waited for him to move but he just stood there, looking at Sora with this odd dazed look on his face and Sora? Sora just stared back though he seemed confused and hesitant about something but exactly what Roxas couldn't fathom. All Roxas knew was that Sora was often seen with this guy and he broke the window at the mansion.

As the seconds went on they started to turn into minutes and Roxas was picking up waves of awkwardness during it all. Sora looked like he wanted to say something but he turned his gaze down instead. The older boy still stood in the way, just looking at Sora. Finally Roxas decided to open his mouth. " Obviously you're not doing anything so move. " he spat. Turquoise eyes suddenly switched to Roxas. Though glazed, they flickered with a challenge and Roxas met them with his own defiant gaze.

" What? " the older teen hissed at Roxas. Roxas parted his lips to fire back.

" We, um, need to go inside..Riku. " Sora came in meekly, to Roxas's confusion even more.

This, Riku, just gave a grunt and moved out of the way. Roxas glanced back before following Sora into the store.

" What was his deal? " Roxas snorted when they were inside. He followed Sora, who did not answer, over to the fridge. Roxas watched as the brown haired teen seemed to struggle with picking a drink. Obviously whatever that had been at the door was bothering Sora, or maybe Roxas just didn't do the spell right? He glanced at the drinks, noting regular water, various sodas, and energy drinks in cool looking cans. His eyes landed on a bottle of ginger ale.

" Uh, if your stomach's still upset they have ginger ale? " Roxas suggested softly. He watched Sora slide open the door and reach for a ginger ale. When Sora's hand wrapped around the green bottle he just stood there for a second before pulling it out and letting the door slide closed. Like a dedicated puppy Roxas trailed behind Sora as he made his way over to the counter. Roxas saw Sora pick out a random chocolate bar and place it on the counter. The cashier rung up the items and put them in the bag while Sora fished out two dollars and some change from his pocket. Throughout that neither Roxas or Sora said a word, then the cashier made a comment about the concert to Sora.

" It was..exciting. " the boy gave a half smile and a shrug. His response was lacking in enthusiasm, something both Roxas and the cashier caught but before another word could be said Sora took his receipt and left. _Alright, that's it._ Roxas put his mental foot down and hurried after Sora.

The moment Roxas walked out into the night he saw Sora sit down on an old bench outside the store. He marched over to Sora, sat down right beside him, and placed a firm yet gentle hand on his shoulder. " Hey? " Roxas leaned in to get a better look at his face. A vampire could tell a lot about a person's emotions by gazing into the their eyes. " What the hell is wrong with you? " he frowned before softening his expression upon realizing that his tone had come out a little too strong.

Sora, who had his lips around his bottle, just shrugged as he glanced back toward the truck. Roxas let out an annoyed hiss. It wouldn't be that easy.

" It's alright Sora. You can tell me. " Roxas insisted but when Sora just kept staring at the group by the truck it caused Roxas get a little irate. " Talk to me Sora. " he gripped the other boy's shoulder tightly causing Sora to flinch away in pain. That reaction caused Roxas to calm down a little but he was still bothered by the lack of communication going on. " Sorry. But Sora, I want to know what's wrong. I hate seeing you like this. " Sora turned his head, bottle still in mouth, and gazed at Roxas. Roxas, feeling more empowered by the reaction, went on. " Talking to someone when you're bothered by something is good. You don't have to tell it all. Just knowing that I can be a shoulder to cry on is good enough. " 

The confession seemed to have an effect on Sora. He tilted his head to the side as if in thought then glanced back at the truck and then back to Roxas. " Would you risk ruining a friendship, over a secret? " Sora spoke quietly and reluctantly. A spike of hope shot up in Roxas but he kept his expression the same as he contemplated the question.

" Well, it depends. What kind of secret?" Roxas inquired, placing his elbow onto the back of the bench and propping his chin up.

" This secret probably wouldn't mean much to the other person. But to the person holding the secret.." Sora adjusted himself a bit " it means a lot. " he looked up at Roxas with blue eyes and at that moment Roxas wanted to hold his Sora. Assure him that everything would be fine and that this thing that was bothering him would no longer be.

" Well... " Roxas scooted closer " Does this secret involve the other person? " he asked to which Sora nodded " Well then I think that the other person should know. Sometimes keeping a secret can make things worse. " Roxas finished and then a voice whispered in his head _When will tell your secret Roxas?_ but he brushed it away. In time. In time.

Sora pursed his lips and sported a look that said he was hesitant to take Roxas's words to heart. Honestly Roxas wanted to know more about this issue even though he had said that Sora didn't have to spit out more then he felt comfortable with. A loud bark of laughter reached the two boys making them both look over to see what the deal was. From what Roxas could see though, it wasn't much. Just some guys laughing at another who was coughing like he choked on something. Roxas turned back to Sora to see him gazing at the crowd with a sad longing, so Roxas followed his gaze and landed on the snow haired jerk from before.

" Why are you looking at him like that? " Roxas asked pointedly.

" Roxas-" before Sora could finish someone called his name. " I've got to go. " Sora adjusted himself and rose from his seat.

" Wait!" In that instant Roxas began to panic inside. His mind scrambled for something to say. Anything. " We should hangout tomorrow. Get your mind off of somethings. " he proposed in a hopeful tone. Sora paused for a short moment before his face came back to life with a genuine smile. Roxas blushed before standing up himself.

" I'd like that. Call you in the morning? " Sora replied. Roxas nodded a little too enthusiastically but he didn't notice or care. He waved as Sora left and watched as the others loaded themselves onto the truck and it drove off into the night. With a happy huff Roxas stuffed his hands into his pockets and strolled off with their talk still dancing in his mind. It would have been nice to know more about what was going on between Sora and that guy, Riku. He also wanted to punch his face but that would most likely upset his little dream. In the end Roxas had pushed his goal forward even if it wasn't by much and that was what mattered.

Roxas made his way into the narrow pathway of the alley in time to see or rather hear, a guy and girl getting intimate with one another further down. " Get a room. " he grinned before imagining himself and Sora in the same position. The thought of pegging Sora sent a small shiver down his spine. He couldn't wait until came to happen. Sora calling out his name. The two of them relishing in the tides of pleasure. _I know what I'm dreaming about tonight._

When he came to the spot leading back to the underground tunnels something made Roxas stop cold. He inhaled to catch the various scents around him, noting nothing of new at first but then. Slowly he turned to face the path to his left where his late victim had once stood and waited. Two people, a girl and boy, were laughing somewhere out of his view. In a few seconds though he'd see them when they turned that corner and the closer they got the more familiar they sounded. After what felt like hours to Roxas's swift mind two people finally turned the corner and Roxas instantly recognized the figures. A thin looking girl with white hair was playfully tugging a large dark skinned guy who was moderately muscled.

" That was fun, ya know? " he chuckled. Raijin.

" Agreed." the girl responded cheerfully. 

Roxas watched them, his mind and eyes trained on the two humans and nothing else. He waited patiently for one of them to notice him and when Fujin, the girl, was the one to do so he smiled. The fear that exploded from her taunted the predator within him and when Raijin, finally seeing the little blond as well, looked up and almost passed out Roxas couldn't help but chuckle.

" You guys look different. " he teased. Roxas was right though, they did look different. He remembered Fujin as always being a small person but even back then she had had some build to her. Raijin's change was more visible. The guy had always been buff with the muscles to prove it but now he looked more slimmed out and somewhat lacking in the muscles department.

" You're not real. " Raijin shuddered " You don't exist! " he suddenly shouted like he was rebuking a demon. Then Fujin let out a scream so loud Roxas was sure any normal person could hear it.

Roxas's first instinct was to rush over and rip out her throat. Already his mind was playing out a plan. Rip out Fujin's throat to shut her up then either jump Raijin to snap his neck or grab one of the nearby lead pipes to bash his head in, whatever stopped him from getting away. Fujin suddenly started wailing like a child causing Roxas to take a step forward. " Shut up! " he hissed and lunged at her, unnecessary rage boiling up, but he didn't make it. He felt something strong wrap around his waist and snatch him back. Before Roxas knew it the dim lights of the alley were racing away from him to let the darkness swallow him up. When he stopped he was haphazardly dropped and forcefully turned around on his feet to face an angry looking Loz.

" What the **hell** is wrong with you? " he hissed at Roxas who just snarled at him while struggling to get free. " Did you forget that we need to stay low? "

" I didn't do shit! " Roxas objected heatedly.

" That's because I grabbed your ass before you could do it! " Loz countered.

" Calm down Roxas. " Yazoo's cool voice commanded from behind Loz. Roxas still continued to struggle, his grudges in full swing, but as the seconds passed he felt it all drain away as Yazoo's relaxing influence seeped into his very bones. Even though the fight was over for him a part of Roxas still wanted to rage. He wanted to be angry and break something because he had missed his chance with Fujin and Raijin. It wasn't fair damn it!

" Loz is going to let you go. " and at those words Roxas felt his strength drop. He felt sluggish and worn down. " We are going home _right now_. " And with a weaken groan Roxas nodded. Loz let him go. Roxas knew what had happened, it was Yazoo. Yazoo had put some sort of spell on him to sap him of his energy. If he tried to get away they'd just snatch him back up and carry him back home to be scolded by Sephiroth. Maybe it _was_ time to go home. He had a day loosely planned tomorrow.


	9. Hints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the name of the game is Subtlety. Too much at once can be bad.

Sora had been awake since four that morning, staring at the black and red curtains covering his window and here it was now seven and still he was staring at the curtains. He'd barely moved minus the one time his bladder insisted he get up and go but as soon as he had completed his task he shuffled back to his room and buried himself underneath the covers again.

The events of the last night had all came down on him when he had woke up early this morning. They danced in his mind and with the migraine gone he was better able to sort through them but even now he couldn't reach an answer to why things had happened the way they did, though maybe that was from the remaining nausea. Either way he just couldn't wrap his head around what had happened. They were just dancing and having fun. Riku was enjoying it, laughing like a kid and pulling Sora into his grasp. It was wonderful, so what was wrong? Why had Riku acted so distant and moody toward him after the concert? Merely pondering these questions made Sora's chest swell up.

_You're just overreacting._ he told himself but the thought didn't seem to help. The pain was still there and it felt like it wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. Maybe if Sora just texted Riku? _And what if he ignores you again?_ A sudden spike of nausea hit him just thinking about the possibility. But a small piece of hope dared to remain inside him, poking at the boy like an annoying little splinter. _Just try._ a weak voice inside of him begged and that was just enough to inspire Sora to rise and slowly crawl out of bed to stumble over to his dresser where his iphone lie. Sora gingerly picked up his phone, scrolled to his contacts and selected Riku's number, and then stopped for a few seconds before opening up a window to text in.

**[Good morning]** It was all the teen could muster.

Sora held his breath for a short time, expecting a reply to pop up any moment, but after a few seconds passed he started getting dizzy and his hope began to wilt. Eventually the seconds turned into a minute, making his hope plunge like a stone in water, than two minutes. By the third Sora wanted to explode and give up. He hugged the phone to his chest. Then a loud ping sounded, alerting him to a received text. _Riku!_ Hope jumped up but upon reading the screen it dropped right back down. Who had texted him wasn't Riku but Kairi. On any other day a text from Kairi would've brightened him up but not this time. Instead of answering the text Sora just let himself crumble onto the floor and his phone slip from his grasp onto the polished wood floor.

His heart drummed in his chest as his breathing started to quicken. Sora swallowed as his mouth began to fill with saliva and the feeling of something approaching began to hang over Sora like a shadow. He took deep breathes to try and calm himself as his eyes started watering. Then a sick feeling overpowered him and Sora jumped up and raced toward his door, haphazardly throwing it open the moment he twisted the knob. He ran to the bathroom and immediately threw himself at the toilet just as the strong urge to puke took over.

The boy's loud gags filled the small bathroom as his body took over and forced out the contents of his stomach through his mouth. When he stopped the feeling of nausea still remained and his body told him there was still more. Sora silently gagged a couple of times before he threw up again. This time it was more forceful, making it a little hard for Sora to calm himself down but as the dry heaves came and went he felt himself relax more and more until he lay slumped over the toilet. 

" Sora? " came Leon's voice. All Sora could offer though was an exhausted groan. " Sora are you okay? " Leon asked again.

" Yeah. " Sora replied just loud enough for his brother to hear. _Just leave me alone._ he whimpered silently before shakily pulling himself up by the counter to gaze in the mirror. 

" You don't sound okay. " Leon went on. Sora said nothing in reply, instead he just studied his messy appearance in the mirror. Brown hair resting this way and that. Eyes red from crying. Skin looking pale. Sora saw clearly that he was a mess so he turned on the tap and splashed his face with some cold water. When he looked back in the mirror he didn't really see much of a difference. Still pale looking and a mess, just dripping with water. He needed to take a shower.

Sora pulled open the door and almost bumped into Leon who was standing right outside. Sora could already guess what would happen next so instead of meeting his older brother's gaze the teen just stared down at the floor and tried to push past but Leon moved into his path to block him.

" Morning Leon. " Sora muttered gloomily without looking at his brother.

" Morning. " Leon responded while eyeing his little brother suspiciously " You okay? "

"Yes! " Sora snapped suddenly before realizing what he'd done. " I'm fine. " Sora said, this time in a much more submissive tone. He rubbed his blue eyes and yawned, tasting the gross residue from his vomiting. " Can I go now? " he asked.

Leon just stood their, studying Sora for a little while longer, which made the teen grow agitated, then he finally moved aside to let Sora past. When Sora had taken a few steps he heard Leon give a big sigh. " Sora were you drinking last night? " the question came out calm and free of judgement but Sora's defenses went up instantly.

" No. " Sora replied carefully without looking back at his brother. Leon gave a dry chuckle.

" Don't Sora. Don't lie to me. " Sora could hear the smile in his brother's voice which seemed to make Sora mad all over again.

" Why would I lie Leon? " Sora protested irately.

" Because you're a good kid Sora. And if you did do something like that you wouldn't admit it at first. " Leon's words pierced Sora making him feel guilty " Plus I smelled it on your shirt. " Sora frowned at that and tried to sneak a whiff of his collar. It did smell like alcohol. _Stupid!_ Sora did not know how to answer.

" So what? " Sora shrugged, trying to come off as indifferent.

" So what? Sora are you aware of what being under the influence can do to you? " Leon's voice rose.

" It was just a few..." Sora shook his head trying to remember " gulps, that's all!"

" Just a few can turn into whole bottles Sora! "

Sora threw his hands up in disbelief " Oh come on Leon! You're blowing this way up! Tidus and Riku-"

" Tidus and Riku? " he heard Leon turn " Did they pressure you to do this? " Leon asked. This made Sora all the more angry.

" I chose to drink! I made my own decision! " Sora argued.

" Did you choose that because you saw them doing it? " Leon pressed hotly.

For a few seconds Sora was at a loss for words. How dare Leon imply that he couldn't make his own decisions! Like he was some stupid little kid! " What if I did? So what." Sora turned around to meet his brother's stare, arms crossed defiantly. Leon's gaze narrowed and for a split second Sora felt regret but he caught himself. A part of Sora didn't want to back down like he had just a minute ago. " N-yes. Yes, I chose to drink because I saw Tidus and Riku do it. I drunk _some_ Leon! _Some!_ "

Leon glanced at the ground for a few seconds, almost like he was trying to compose himself, then back up at Sora. " I worry about you Sora. Yeah you're a good kid whose heart is always in the right place but you're still a _teenager._ Teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure and what you just told me tells me that I am right to be worried. What if next time it's smoking or some hard drug like Ecstasy? " Sora's older brother stressed. 

Sora's defiance only grew stronger but he wasn't stupid. If he let his defiance keep urging him to fight back this would be a long conversation and he was still feeling like crap, plus he needed to take a shower. So with a big huff Sora toned down his anger and straightened up a little bit. " I won't do it again Leon. " Sora answered softly and this time there was no snark, no hint of disdain, no lip. He was genuine, because even though he wasn't in the mood for a lecture Sora could understand his brother's worry and making his brother worry was not something Sora liked to do.

Leon's expression softened. " Even if you do " Sora opened his mouth to counter but Leon stopped him " I want you to really think Sora. So many kids' lives have been messed up all because of that one time. I'd hate to see everything you worked hard for be ruined because of something like that. " Leon walked over to Sora and placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

" I get it Leon. " Sora then gave a weak smile to which Leon gently ruffled his hair before turning around and heading toward the stairs. Sora gave a silent sigh of relief and turned to return back to his room. Once there Sora moved to his dresser and fished out some lounging clothes. An old fading graphic tee and a pair of black shorts. 

Without even bothering to close the drawer Sora headed for the door until a loud buzzing from his phone made him freeze. Slowly he turned as his heart started pounding, his nerves returning. He cautiously stepped over to his phone still on the floor before bending down to gingerly pick it up. With a nervous swallow Sora glanced at the screen.

**[Riku: Morning]**

A flash of hope filled Sora's blue eyes but it was a brief one and his newly acquired pessimism wouldn't let it go beyond that. But still, Riku had replied back so that was something.

  


Sora had made it a personal mission to avoid Leon for the rest of the time he was at home. His brother must've felt the same because he hadn't come to check up on Sora since the incident that morning. It was an awkward passing of time, so awkward that Sora didn't make breakfast, not even for himself. He just munched on a bag of chips and drank water.

By the time the doorbell rang later that evening Sora was ready, dressed in a black short sleeve button up with blue flame designs and a pair of black jeans. The moment he opened the door Sora was more then ready to hit the streets but Roxas immediately stepped into the house, an eager smile on his face but not in any sort of hurry.

" If we're going to make it on time we should start walking. " Sora gently insisted. Roxas just shrugged and raised his arms high as the sound of a car door slamming sounded behind him.

" My dad's driving us so we've got time. " Roxas grunted as he stretched.

" Your dad?" Sora echoed. Roxas nodded before Sora stepped passed him in time to hear a car door slam. The same messy haired blonde from before came around the car and headed up the walkway. Cloud, Leon's buddy.

Sora stepped back as he started remembering that awkward encounter from before. Maybe this time he'd have more to say. Then it finally hit him. Cloud was Roxas's dad. That was his relation to Roxas which was why they resembled each other. His mind then brought something else back to his attention. Leon had said that Cloud and Sephiroth were together so that meant that either Roxas was adopted or he was from another relationship that Cloud might have had. Or maybe even that thing were a woman agreed to carry the baby for a couple. But Sora couldn't remember any significant women in the album save for one with long black hair but she and Roxas looked nothing alike.

" Yo Sora! " a loud clap brought Sora out of his mind and back to reality. He broke out of his trance just in time to see Cloud come through the door.

" Who is it? " Leon called as his footsteps moved toward them. Cloud then smiled, baring those perfect white teeth. Sora then glanced at Roxas who was also baring perfect white teeth but in a playful grin instead. The resemblance for Cloud was there alright.

" Who do you think? " Cloud replied.

Sora watched as his brother came to the door, face glowing with a welcoming smile. This was the second time he'd seen his brother get all bright at Cloud's arrival. Usually Leon was neutral with others, even close friends, but Cloud was different apparently. It made sense though. Leon did say he and Cloud were close.

" What are you doing here? " Leon asked lifting a brow on a smiling face.

" Dropping the boys off at the movies. " Cloud responded while closing the front door.

" Movies? " Leon frowned, obviously confused. 

" Uh, yeah. " Sora stepped in, remembering that he had never told Leon he had plans tonight.

" I invited Sora out to the movies. " Roxas spoke up. When Leon looked at Roxas Sora noticed an odd expression crawl over his face but it quickly disappeared as he started to nod his head " Hope that's okay. " Roxas flashed his toothy grin.

" Of course. " Leon shrugged before looking back at Cloud. Sora rolled his eyes.

" We've got about ten minutes before we leave. " Cloud informed them then followed Leon into the front room leaving Sora and Roxas where they stood.

Sora turned to look at Roxas who was now leaning against the door, hands in the pockets of his pair grey jeans. Sora couldn't help but notice how wonderful the other boy looked. Perfect blue eyes, flawless skin, messy blond hair that was somehow also perfect. His stance, even though slouched, was perfect. Sora hadn't noticed this before but now that he had the chance, it all really jumped out at him at once. 

" So, do I get to see your room? " Roxas asked playfully though something in his voice made Sora think Roxas wasn't totally joking. Sora rubbed his head in contemplation.

It wasn't like Sora was a privacy freak or anything. He'd let his other friends in his room lots of times before but for some reason something inside of him was telling Sora to deny Roxas's request, even if it wasn't serious. " It's not clean. " Sora lied but Roxas just shrugged. _Not so easy I guess._ " I don't like to bring people in there when it's dirty, you know? " Sora bluffed. Once again Roxas just shrugged but this time he pushed himself off of the door.

" What? Are you hiding Hello Kitty underwear up there? " he teased with his grin still on those perfect lips. Sora blushed while frowning in slight irritation at the other boy's persistence. Kairi had always told him that he needed to learn how to just say 'no' and stop beating around the bush.

" Damn. Chill Sora, I'm just playing. " Roxas chuckled before turning to head into the living room. Sora followed while silently thanking the universe that Roxas gave up.

When Sora and Roxas had came into the living room Sora noticed Leon and Cloud sitting next to each other. His brother was very relaxed, playful even, something that he'd never seen him be with other guys his age let alone people his age in general. Leon hadn't been exaggerating about his and Cloud's relationship. They were acting like best friends. It was a little weird.

"So, when did you meet Roxas? " Leon asked carefully.

Sora took a few seconds to recall, to formulate a story. 

" He was returning some books one of his friends stole from the house. " Roxas suddenly answered. Sora didn't argue, he just nodded. Roxas had purposely lied a bit for him. How nice of him to do that. But when Sora glanced at Cloud he saw the man give a knowing smirk. Sora quickly looked away and pretended he hadn't seen it.

" Alright. " Leon smiled at Sora, a flicker of pride showing in his eyes. He then placed his arm around Cloud's shoulder, making Sora take a mental note and disapprove of their action. He sure was getting chummy with Cloud. " So, you guys are in town. Are you making plans to come back? " his older brother asked. Sora looked to Roxas who was staring down at the floor with a look of irritation that was clear as day. Then his gaze flickered to Sora who quickly looked away.

" No. " Cloud answered softly prompting Leon to look a little dejected. Cloud gave a small apologetic smile. " We're just here to get the last of the stuff still in the house. Then we're going to sell it. " an awkward silence " You should come visit us in Edge. " Cloud then looked over to Sora and Roxas. Another awkward silence then Leon shifted his weight on the couch.

" Do you ever miss us? " Leon asked quietly " Twilight Town, I mean? " The awkwardness in the room was growing, Sora could feel it and when he looked over at Roxas he could see that he was also feeling it.

" Sometimes. " Cloud answered carefully " This place is quiet. Simple. " he eyed Leon briefly before staring off at the wall " But, some things have started happening and...we plan on bringing in a new member to the family. " 

Leon gripped his knee and Sora could see the disappointment in his older brother's eyes. This was going beyond awkward. It was becoming down right uncomfortable. That's when Roxas sat up. " We want to get there early so..."

" Yeah. We're meeting some of my other friends. " Sora joined in, picking up on Roxas's idea.

Cloud smiled, the awkward mood starting to lift, then nodded and rose to his feet. Leon waited a few seconds before getting up himself and following them to the door.

 

The smell of popcorn hit Sora's nose the moment they got out of the car. There were a lot of people lined up at one booth while the others didn't have so much but either way they wouldn't have to worry about that because Roxas had bought tickets ahead of time. All they had to do was go inside and wait until it was time to get in line for snacks.

When they arrived inside there were people moving about. Kids running to their parents, people getting in and out of line for snacks, other's simply standing in one place while on their phones. When Sora went over the concession lines he noticed a familiar head of blond hair.

" Hayner! " he called out. In response the boy turned and his face lit up.

" Hold on! " Hayner responded then he tapped the person in front of him. Olette turned and waved before she turned back to order something.

Sora went over to the line with Roxas in tow. " Who are they? " Roxas asked somewhat pointedly.

" My friends. " Sora replied nonchalantly. He noticed Pence wasn't with them. " Where's Pence? " Sora asked Hayner. Before the boy could respond he moved up to the counter and started ordering his food. Olette walked over to them and gestured for Sora to take the pack of red vines and sour skittles in her hand.

" Bathroom. " she answered before eating a piece of popcorn then eyeing Roxas. Her gaze went over the messy haired blond as if she were inspecting a prize winning dog, then she smirked and lifted a brow. " Who's the cutie Sora? " she inquired playfully. Sora grinned and looked to Roxas who was still wearing his shades for some reason. He caught Olette tilting her head to the side like she was trying to get a good view. This must have prompted Roxas to peel off his shades and when he did Olette's smirk turned into a full blown smile.

" Hello Mr. Cuteness. " she giggled causing Sora to roll his eyes.

" Hey. " Roxas replied in a disinterested tone.

Sora purposely moved to block Olette's view a little. " This is Roxas. Roxas, this is Olette. Apparently she likes you already. " Sora then gestured to an approaching Hayner " And that's Hayner." When Hayner came to stand next to Olette he looked Roxas up and down then whistled.

" Not bad. " he said to which Roxas just shrugged.

" The indifferent silent type. " Olette remarked before winking at Roxas. 

" Somebody likes you. " Sora gently elbowed Roxas but the boy seemed to be somewhere else, his gaze off in the direction of the bathroom.

" Think I see your other pal. " Roxas pointed to Pence walking their way, hands waving. When he stopped he immediately smiled at Roxas then tilted his head. Sora knew what that meant. It meant that Pence was in the process of trying to remember a familiar face but as Pence opened his mouth to say something Roxas suddenly held up his finger then pulled out his phone. He swiped the screen only to stare at it while a frown appeared on his face for a few seconds before putting the phone away.

" Something wrong? " Sora asked with genuine concern.

" Text from my dad. " Roxas replied " Something about being safe. " he rolled his eyes.

" Awww. " Olette smiled.

" Cloud just wants you to be safe. " Sora remarked.

" Cloud? " Hayner echoed skeptically.

" My other dad sent me the text. " Roxas corrected him. 

" Your dad's name is Cloud? " Hayner nearly sputtered in disbelief.

" You've got two dads? " Pence came in an inquiscal tone. Roxas's eyes narrowed at both Hayner and Pence.

Sora could see that Roxas was starting to irritated really fast so he decided to step in though he also wanted to know more about Roxas's other dad. That could wait though. If Sora was the one in Roxas's position he'd want people to back off when he got defensive about his family. " Knock it off guys! " Olette glared at them, beating Sora to the punch. He looked over at Roxas who's expression was now hidden behind reapplied glasses. Hayner and Pence looked somewhat bewildered at Olette's sudden mood shift.

" We weren't trying to offend. " Pence explained apologetically.

" No big, just forget it. " Roxas mumbled with a shrug " And yes, I have two dads. It's just like having a mom and a dad except I have another dad in place of a mom. " Roxas explained, his tone saying that that was the end of it. Apparently everyone felt the same because no one said anything else for a time. It was only when Sora dragged his sneaker across the floor, causing a loud squeek, that he decided to end the silence in their small little gathering.

" So uh, what are you guys seeing? " he inquired innocently, trying to wash away the odd feeling hanging over them all.

Pence instantly perked up with Olette following, Hayner was a bit slower then his friends but eventually he perked up too. " The Key. " Pence answered excitedly " Horror movies are making a big comeback. Plus we wanted to do one last submission for our horror club."

Sora nodded. The three were major horror movie buffs and had started the club during their freshmen year at Twilight High. Whenever the latest horror movie was out Hayner, Pence, and Olette were some of the first to know about it. Personally Sora could only take so much killing and possession until it got to him but to each their own. They never forced Sora beyond his comfort zone. Yeah, they'd drop a few good natured barbs his way but it was all in friendly gest.

" Hope we don't end up wasting our money. " Hayner said looking over at a giant poster of a keyhole with a demonic figure on the other side of the keyhole opening. 

" Doubt it. " Roxas spoke up, making all eyes land on him " It's pretty good. Saw it with a friend last month. " This got the trio's full attention in no time flat. As if the event from just seconds ago never happened, they were marveling at Roxas.

" How? " Olette asked mystified " It just came out like, yesterday! "

Roxas grinned before shrugging " One of my dads is friends with the executive producer. We got tickets to an early screening for critics. " At that the three started pelting Roxas with all sorts of questions. Sora just stood there, a smile on his face at seeing his friends get along with Roxas. He'd have to get them to hang out more often even when he wasn't around.

" I'm going to get in line. " Sora gestured to the concession stand to which Roxas simply nodded before going back to conversating with his new friends.

Luckily Sora was in line behind one other person. Unfortunately the lady in front of him seemed to be having trouble understanding what the items on the menu were. And to make things worse, she had to comment on how overpriced the food was. Sora understood her woes but complaining about it would not get the prices to go down. But she didn't seem to know that because the lady felt the need to go on for three minutes about how she could go to the dollar store and buy three packs of milk duds for the same price. Sora could only watch as the cashier tried to hold back an eye roll and what might have been a snappy retort but finally the old lady settled for a small overpriced popcorn before walking off and mumbling about money. When Sora approached the counter he gave the girl an apologetic smile who in return just shook her head.

" Someone will be right with you. " she told him before moving away to the other end of the counter, her coworkers smiling as she passed by. Sora looked back to see Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette still going on then turned back around. His heart almost stopped beating when he saw a familiar head of snow white hair.  
 _I forgot he worked here._ Quickly gathering himself Sora swallowed and prepared to make eye contact. In his head Sora thought the seconds couldn't be any shorter as Riku made his eay over to the register.

" How can I..." Riku trailed off when his eyes landed on Sora. _What do I say?_ Sora racked his brain for some sort of reply. Should he bring up what happened last night? The text from this morning maybe?

" Uh, hey. " Sora managed. Riku smiled a little which seemed to light a spark in Sora. God how he loved Riku's smiles, even if they were low effort.

" Hey. " Riku replied then " Didn't know you'd be here. "

" Um yeah. Roxas invited me out to the movies. " Sora explained, taking a few seconds to admire his best friend. He wanted so much to go back to the way things were.

Riku's face distorted into confusion before Sora realized Riku didn't know who Roxas was. " The guy from last night. " then Riku nodded in understanding.

" So what are you guys seeing? " he asked carefully. Sora openned his mouth to answer before he realized he didn't know what the name of the movie was.

" I'm not even sure. " Sora admitted with a weak smile. This prompted Riku to chuckle a bit.

" You don't know what movie this Roxas guy is taking you to? " he shook his head in disbelief. Sora let out a chuckle of his own as he felt himself loosen up. It felt great to be talking with Riku again. He wanted to lean on the counter and dive deeper into the conversation so he opened his mouth to say something witty when suddenly someone's arm went around his shoulders. He turned to see who it was with a bothered expression until he noticed it was Roxas. His expression softened until he turned to see Riku and noticed his smile was gone.

" Come on Sora. Sleeping on the Job is waiting. " Roxas appeared over his shoulder, a smug grin on his face. He must have really been getting along with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Sora looked at Riku then at the menu, once again feeling like the seconds couldn't be any more shorter.

" Lets see. M&Ms, a coke, and a medium popcorn please. " Riku quickly rung up the order, the price coming out to more then Sora had on hand. " Crap. " he muttered when he saw the price. Roxas reached into his own pockets. " I've got it. " the blond reassured him but Riku started hitting buttons on the register before pulling out something from his pocket.

" I'll give you a discount. Just for you Sora. " Riku winked before swipping his card. Sora couldn't help but blush a little.

" Thanks. " the boy smiled before giving Riku his money. Sora then turned to Roxas. " What are you getting? " he asked to a now annoyed looking Roxas. Sora frowned as he gathered his things. " What's wrong? " Sora asked Roxas but the other boy just shook his head before stepping up to order his own things. He only ordered a soda and twizzlers before stepping out of line.

Sora looked at a smiling Riku who gave him another wink. " Enjoy the movie. " the older teen said before Roxas hastily beckoned Sora away. A jumble of butterflies danced in Sora's stomach as he followed Roxas to their movie room.

 

The movie was worth the money. Sora never laughed so much in his life as he and Roxas exchanged hushed jokes during the movie. They shared the bag of popcorn, which was way too much for Sora alone, and Roxas even offered him some of his twizzlers. During a particularly sappy scene in the movie Sora made a comment.

" He should have just told her instead of putting it off. " he said. He expected Roxas to answer immediately but when he didn't Sora assumed he was into the movie. It wasn't until a minute later that Roxas leaned over. His cool breath lightly tickled Sora's cheek making the boy feel slightly uncomfortable.

" If I told you an important secret about myself, would you view me differently? " Roxas asked. 

When Sora looked at him he could see the boy's blue eyes glowing in the dim light. " Of course not. You're my friend Roxas. " Sora smiled and Roxas laughed softly before turning his attention back to the movie.


	10. Tough Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life isn't all kisses and puppy love. It is filled with death and pain too and any kid worth their salt has guardians that teach them that even if they don't want to hear it.

**Roxas**

Roxas was a little surprised at how he had managed to have the time of his life from just going to the movies despite the haste that seemed to hang over him like a black cloud. And the joy didn't stop there. While they waited for Cloud to come pick them up he chatted with Sora's three friends, debating about the best horror movies of the past years. Roxas was having genuine fun and it felt, well, like he didn't want it to stop. But when Pence's parents came to pick up the horror trio Roxas knew that soon his and Sora's night would be coming to an end as well.

" We need to do this again some time. " Sora grinned at Roxas. Roxas gave a knowing smile as he placed an arm around his Sora. They'd have plenty of time to do things like this in the near future. Roxas could see it now. The two of them going to midnight showings, then dancing off into the nearest alley to drain whatever poor soul that decided to get lost in the dark. " And to make tonight even better I got to talk to Riku. " Sora's smile grew even bigger at the mention of Riku. It made Roxas's own smile drop a bit, not enough for the other boy to notice though.

" Riku. Riku. Riku. " Roxas murmured as he stared off into a small crowd.

Roxas was aware of who Riku was, staying hidden in high school afforded him a wealth of information on his peers. People didn't know how to shut up about certain things apparently. Yes. Thanks to Riku being a popular jock Roxas heard about him almost every-damn-day. Girls wouldn't shut up about how cute his eyes were and boys wouldn't shut up about how cool the guy was. But what got to Roxas the most was how Sora was so close to him. Sometimes Roxas would see the two rolling about on the grass, enjoying one another's company. At times Roxas thought that maybe if he'd stuck out more Sora would've been all over him and not Riku. But then that party happened and Roxas went on a spree. It had felt so good to slaughter all those jerks who thought it funny to stuff him in a locker. It still felt good when he thought about it. All that blood. By the time he'd stumbled home, a drunken mess, he didn't want to do anything but sleep.

" Roxas? " Sora's voice called from somewhere " Hey Roxas? "

" Ow! " Roxas exclaimed at the sudden pain in the back of his hand. Sora had pinched him to get his attention apparently. Roxas rubbed the spot, a little shocked that Sora could deliver such a painful pinch.

" You didn't hear me? " Sora asked prompting Roxas to shake his head. " I said it looks like this little spat between me and Riku will be over quicker than I thought. "

" What is with you and Riku? " Roxas ventured, trying to keep is irritation at bay. He didn't want to ruin their night but if Sora kept bringing up Riku it was going to be difficult.

" It's just.. " Sora's expression dropped into a dreamy one " Riku and I have been friends since we were in kindergarten. We've always had each other's backs. We can tell each other anything and..we'd still be friends in the end no matter what. " Sora said the last part like he'd realized something.

Roxas felt himself growing mad. Mad at what though? At Sora having more of an emotional interest in Riku? At the little time he had to work with? Then a question floated to his lips. " Would you still accept me if I told you something horrible about myself? " Roxas looked at Sora, alert for any sort of doubt.

" I-I don't..." Sora shook his head as if to clear it before looking back at his friend " I always give my friends the benefit of the doubt. " Sora smiled gently but that only made Roxas feel more mad. More frustrated. _That's not what I asked._

" Whatever." Roxas growled. He then started walking toward the street, not caring if Sora followed or not. Then a loud honk sounded as Cloud's black sport sedan pulled up to usher them home. As Roxas and Sora got into the car Cloud asked them about their evening. Not surprisingly Sora gave a somewhat energetic report but beyond that they barely said a peep on their way back to Sora's house. 

 

Roxas was somewhat relieved when Sora disappeared inside of his house. The quiet ride home was a welcome to Roxas's still simmering anger. He didn't feel like talking about his night anymore. All he could do was keep picturing Sora's dreamy expression when he mentioned Riku. Just saying his name in his head made Roxas clutch the armrest a little too hard.

" Watch it. " Cloud warned. Roxas just rolled his eyes before looking over and eyeing the two boxes in the back with him. Cloud had said they were presents from Sephiroth which seemed a bit peculiar but awesome non the less. His oldest father rarely gave him gifts and when he did they were gifts he either couldn't make immediate use of or some sort of antiques that would just end up on the shelf in his closet. What teenager wanted a blessed dagger that was for looking and not actual use?

Roxas looked out the window and noticed they were passing a bunch of trees, in fact they had left the town about fifteen minutes ago and it did not take them more then six minutes just to get home. They were going out of town but why? Suddenly alarm rose in Roxas. He thought he had more time! " Where are we-"

" We're meeting Sephiroth. " was all Cloud said. Roxas blinked as he considered what else to say but at the same time he knew Cloud would just give him a short and to the point answer. That wouldn't be enough for the boy so he just pouted and sat back, watching the trees pass by in the dark night as Cloud drove them to where ever they were going. Roxas felt Cloud increase speed and saw the trees blur past even faster.

By the time they'd arrived at the spot it was late but Roxas wasn't feeling tired at all. What he was feeling though was an urge to tear at those presents in the seat next to him. " Are we there yet? " he asked as he eyed the long narrow boxes in the back with him.

" Almost. " and at Cloud's words they hit a bump before they started barreling through the trees. Roxas held on as leaves and branches streamed past the windows and before he knew it Cloud had drove into a clearing, coming to a halt that caused Roxas to almost bang his head against the back of the driver's seat. He looked out the window and saw his other father waiting at the opposite end of the clearing, his bright white hair standing out all the more thanks to the moon's light.

" Take them with you. " Cloud told him. Roxas grabbed the two boxes before opening the door and getting out. He then made his way to the middle of the clearing while at the same time taking a few moments to relish the cool air dancing across his cheek. When he finally arrived at the clearing's center Roxas cleared his throat to let his father know he was attentive to whatever he had planned.

" How was your night, Roxas? " Sephiroth asked without even turning to face his son. Even though his tone was flat it still told Roxas that the question was one of genuine concern though any outsider would think otherwise.

Roxas shrugged not caring if his father actually saw the gesture or not. " It was mostly good. We had fun and I got to hang out with some of Sora's friends. " the teen reported to his father. It was a bit awkward though, him explaining his night to his father. Roxas felt like one of the family's soldiers reporting on a mission or something. While his eldest father wasn't totally distant concerning his son's social life Roxas was of the opinion that he could be more active in it. But at the same time Roxas understood, running a coven and being one of the most influential vampires to date was a lot of work. When he was smaller he'd seen visitors going in and out of the house at all hours of the night and it was only during the hours of the morning and afternoon that the house became quiet and still, his father then doing the same.

His father turned to face him, green eyes glowing in the night. He started moving toward Roxas with a leisurely gate, as patient as ever. Roxas was confused but said nothing instead gripping the two narrow boxes as his father got closer and closer. Roxas gulped when his father finally came to a stop a mere five feet away from him. " Um..." was all Roxas could say. He wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, _if_ there even was something going on.

" There is doubt in your voice son. " Sephiroth stated matter of factually.

Roxas snorted, not because he was trying to deny it but because of how his father could so easily read him. Sometimes Roxas believed that it was sheer respect for privacy that kept his father from just outright going deeper and reading the teen like a favorite book. " Sora kept bringing up his friend Riku. Swear, Sora is the guy's number one fan." Roxas rolled his eyes.

Sephiroth looked off into the distance as if contemplating something then back to his son. " Open the presents I got for you. " he suggested, or rather commanded. Roxas of course did what he was told and with an excited haste to boot. The sound of cardboard being ripped open filled the quiet clearing along with the slight dance of tree branches and in a minute flat Roxas was staring at two perfect, pristine swords. The steel of the blade glistened in the pale light around them giving the weapons an added flare. Roxas marveled at every inch. From the sharp tip that could pierce diamond to the razor edges on both sides that could slice a clean line down a three stack of thick cement blocks and down to the hand guard and hilt that fitted Roxas perfectly. " Made with you in mind. " a hint of pride dared to show itself in his father's voice.

" Test the weight in your hands. Get a feel for it. " Sephiroth continued and of course Roxas obeyed. The teen held a sword up and took note of it's heaviness. " Special metal that costs a pretty penny. " Sephiroth commented. Roxas grinned like an idiot before turning the sword tip down then twirling it in his hand. Next the other one. The boy took a quick slash at the air around him with one sword then eyed a low branch across from him. His blue eyes narrowed before he rushed toward the tree and swung his sword. The razor edge separated the branch from the tree, though Roxas brought the sword to the ground with an awkward drop of his arm. It was something he wasn't used to yet.

" Cool. " Roxas said, raising the sword off the ground.

" Good. " his father's voice distant now. Roxas looked up to see where he was going and saw the man quite a few feet away, facing him with a unreadable expression. Roxas blinked and then his father's hand was gripping a long slender object. It took him a few seconds before the boy came to realize what was about to happen. Roxas's eyes widened in apprehension as doubt rose in him. He recognized what his father held even though it was sheathed. His heart pounded with every second from watching the elder vampire even though he made no move to pull the weapon from it's cover. " This " Sephiroth said, bringing the sword into full view " is merely a regular one. The majority of hunters you run into will not be wielding a weapon like Masamune. " his father clarified. That did not settle Roxas though, because there was still the fact that his father was holding a weapon after he had given his son two usable ones.

" What do you mean by 'majority of hunters I run into'? " Roxas asked carefully.

" Did you really believe you could be removed from this? " amusement rather then bewildered disappointment was in Sephiroth's voice " Any vampire worth their salt teaches their progeny how to defend themselves' from danger. Hunters are very _big_ danger. "

Roxas blinked as he quickly fell into an irritated mood. He didn't have time for this! " It can't wait? " the boy growled. At this Sephiroth's gaze grew cold and then, he just wasn't there. Literally. Roxas began to panic a bit and his mind hurriedly tried to adapt to the situation. It was too late of course, the hard and painful blow to his abdomen that sent Roxas flying back was evident of that. He hit the ground hard enough to knock away any chance of regaining his breath. His father's assault left the teen curled up like a wounded animal, hissing in pain with his blue eyes squeezed shut as tears gathered in his eyes. 

" Clearly, I've allowed you too much slack boy. " his father's voice was like a blade of ice cutting every part of him deeply. Roxas kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds but he heard his father move away from him, back in the direction from before. " Get up. " the words were hard and commanding " Or do you want me to help you up like I helped you to the ground? " Those words seemed to do the trick.

Roxas rose to his feet despite the soreness in his gut. The thought of his father "helping" him up proved to be a helpful motivator but something else really helped too. His anger. It pissed Roxas off that his father was being so rough. It pissed Roxas off that everyone expected him to hurry up with his stuff so that he could focus on their's. " What's your deal?" Roxas exclaimed at his father. The man simply pulled his sword out of it's sheath then pointed it at Roxas. Sephiroth then charged at him forcing Roxas to scramble in his actions. Thinking fast he brought his swords up in an "X" formation and managed to block the incoming blow, but just barely. He didn't put enough force behind it and so he knew he wouldn't be able to keep holding it back.

" Our enemies are getting ready to close in. We do not have the time to afford you leisure filled days anymore. We should've started your training sooner, from the moment I first showed you the weapons room." 

Roxas was suddenly pushed back, his shoes trailing a dirt path all the way to where he stopped. He then rushed forward with his enhanced speed giving him a greater push forward. Bringing his left sword up Roxas readied himself then slashed just before he got to his father. Unfortunately his blow was blocked by the broad side of the single edged sword, which agitated the boy for some reason. " But why are you training _me_? " Roxas stressed and then attempted to attack with the free sword in his right hand. His father simply stepped out of the way. " That's what the family soldiers are for! Reno, Tifa, Vincent, and the others! " he argued.

" That does not absolve you of learning how to defend yourself. " Sephiroth countered. " What if a hunter targets you while you're out courting that boy? "

" I'm fast! " Roxas argued.

" Something a well trained hunter would be able to get past. Besides, Sora would be your weakness. "

This seemed to hit Roxas in a soft spot. The boy frowned and adjusted himself, ready to attack. His father lifted a white brow at his son's sudden enthusiasm. " From what Cloud has told me you seem to favor this Sora to a high degree. It would explain your sudden pep. " Sephiroth then appeared behind Roxas though the boy did not turn around immediately. " Does this Sora feel the same way? "

The question seemed to make everything stop. Why would he ask that? Of course Sora felt the same. They liked hanging out with each other and Sora could tell him anything. Roxas would do anything for the other boy and he was sure that he was letting Sora know that. " I care about Sora! I love him! "

A chuckle sounded from behind Roxas. It was the one that he would give him when Roxas was a kid. One that said that he wasn't taking what Roxas was saying seriously. " Oh? That's charming but not what I asked. How does _Sora_ feel? " But Roxas didn't have an answer and it bother him. To get his mind off of that question Roxas turned and swung his sword knowing full well his father would move out of the way. It didn't matter though because he just needed to do something to get his attention off of that question and onto something else.

" You don't know do you? " Sephiroth chided. This caused Roxas to let out a threatening growl before charging at his father. He swung his swords at the old vampire without direction. Each dodge only served to make Roxas more angry. How dare he try to pick at his and Sora's relationship. Just because they were teenagers didn't mean his matters could just be brushed aside and treated like child's play. " What you have my son, is one sided puppy love. " his father continued " And we don't have time for that. "

" Then why? " Roxas shouted when he stopped to glare at his father " Why did you allow me to come back? " 

Sephiroth's expression suddenly become more gentle but Roxas stayed prepared for it to change back. " Originally I was against letting you return here, even if it was just to help clean out the remaining things in the manor. I am well aware of the issues you still have about what happened here but it was thanks to Cloud that I eventually agreed. "

_Of course. Dad always could soften him up._ Roxas felt the anger inside of him start to die down when he saw his father's still gentle expression. It started to subside even more when Sephiroth approached him then gently ruffled the boy's already messy hair. " That's enough for tonight. Come along." Bewildered, Roxas followed. What had happened in his father's head to suddenly change the elder vampire's mood like that? He went from tough love to gentle in the blink of an eye.

When they were in the car and driving back Roxas was silent. He didn't feel like talking even though his two dads were discussing the move and the how much the mansion would go for. Their conversation went in one ear and out the other, Roxas only catching snippets such as dates and names of people he did know and other who he didn't. One name in particular briefly pulled at his attention. Axel. But it was only for a few seconds, long enough for the red headed man's face to appear in his mind before Roxas brushed it away. Instead the teenage vampire couldn't stop thinking about his father's skepticism regarding his and Sora's relationship. Every time Roxas really thought on it an uncomfortable feeling hit him and he would push it away by thinking about something else which just led him back to that uncomfortable feeling again.

A loud buzzing suddenly brought Roxas out of his contemplation prompting him to pull out his cellphone. On the screen was a text.

**[Vanitas]: How's it going Romeo?**

Roxas gripped his phone hard. He knew better than to think his friend was being funny at his expense but still, the text felt like he was mocking him.


	11. Intermission - Cold Turkey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He shouldn't have went there but he did and now the price is being paid. It was going to happen sooner or later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was finding it hard to do a Sora chapter so I decided to add in a little piece focusing on Leon.

  
**Leon**

Sora was out with Kairi which meant she would keep his little brother busy for most of the day. That was good for Leon since it meant he could have the full run of the house. The only downside was that Sora was his personal cook and when Leon tried to make something he almost burned down the kitchen which then served as a deterrent to him using the stove for things other than boiling water. He didn't have to worry about that for a while though. That was one thing he liked about work, take out.

Leon scanned the list of supplies the shop needed. More wrenches, two new jacks, three boxes of motor oil, and a whole lot of other stuff but nothing that wasn't the usual. Clicking his tongue Leon set to work ordering the supplies. His hands flew across the keyboard as his typed in their supplier's website and instantly a familiar webpage popped up in front of the man's eyes. Leon had to blink a few times to get used to the sudden burst of pink he was assaulted with but eventually he was able to look at the webpage with his eyeballs arguing with him. He briefly noted the mascot for Lenora's Garage, which was a little person wearing a big cap with googles and some sort of outfit, and of course it was colored shades of pink with some white. Leon clicked on the login link and entered in the username and password. 

" Surprised to see you sitting in here. " came a gruff voice.

Leon looked up and saw Jecht walking in with a bottle of orange juice in his hand. The man's upbeat mood in the mornings had everyone else at the shop wondering how he was that positive in the early hours of the morning. They were very grateful though because when Jecht got pissed he got pissed and no one wanted to be around him when he was like that. Somebody left a wrench laying around? They got an earful. They just happened to be low on oil one day? They got an earful. The general census was that a happy Jecht was a good Jecht.

" I've got nothing to do yet. " Leon replied while still looking at the screen. Jecht let out a deep chuckle.

" _You've_ got nothing to do? " the older man questioned in disbelief.

" Later on I will. " Leon grinned while he continued to fill out the order.

There was a few seconds of silence before the sound of Jecht opening his office door, throwing his things down, and moving about inside the room filled Leon's ears. The desk was right across from the Jecht's office so it gave someone the opportunity to listen out, though the sounds became muffled once the door was closed so there was no point really. If they were lucky and the big guy was talking loud enough they just might have been able to make out a word or two but without being able to make out the rest there was once again, really no point. 

" So." Jecht began before a two second silence followed. Whether it was because the man forgot his words or he was just trying to add some sort of effect Leon did not bother to look up and see. He just continued to finish up, the pink wrench cursor trailing about the screen. " Heard some interesting bits of rumor yesterday. "

" And those would be? " Leon replied knowing that Jecht would tell him without making the young man guess it.

"The Strifes are back apparently. " he could hear the smile in Jecht's voice. Leon stopped clicking for a few moments then resumed.

" What? No words? " his boss asked in mock disbelief, then " I would've thought you'd be happy. "

Leon didn't bother to answer that but it didn't matter because Jecht gave another chuckle that Leon recognized as when he knew something. The young man leaned back slightly in his chair and prepared for it. 

" They really are back huh? " the older man probed. Leon simply looked up at him and smiled a bit. It was amazing how much they managed to keep themselves off of the town's radar until now. Maybe it was a vampire thing? Maybe it was just because they were really efficient? Sephiroth's work with the incident a year ago was damn near flawless. How he managed to erase so many memories was beyond Leon but it was done and then there was the money plus the old vampire's influence. The Strife family was truly something. Sephiroth was truly something. The way Cloud spoke about him told Leon that. So then why was Cloud messing around with him, a mere average human?

A cold feeling crawled into Leon's veins. A bitter taste formed in his mouth and suddenly Leon wanted to be somewhere else. " Hey Leon? " a rough hand gripped his shoulder followed by a brief shake. A sharp urge to glare at Jecht pushed away his contemplation but fortunately Leon stopped himself from following through with his urge. " I asked if you knew the reason why they were back? " 

" No idea. You know how quiet they were about their business when they lived here. " Leon responded. It was a lie of course. Leon did know and even though it was a very average reason he refused to tell Jecht. Yes the older man could keep a secret but Leon didn't want to risk it, plus even though Cloud hadn't asked him to Leon was sure the vampire wanted that bit of information to be as classified as possible.

" That is true. " Jecht replied and just then the phone in his office rung. When he shuffled off to answer it, closing the door behind him, Leon gave a silent sigh of relief. He wanted to stop talking about the Strifes not only because he felt that what Cloud told him should be kept quiet but because of his precious thoughts. They just hung there in the back of his head and with Jecht no longer available to batter him with inquisitive questions those thoughts threatened to return to the fore front of his mind so to remedy that Leon put an unnecessary amount of focus into the order on the screen.

 

Leon liked working on cars but even he disliked unnecessary complications though this time they were welcomed. It was his drive home that irked him because the thoughts returned and wanted them to go away. Luckily as he turned onto his street they did but then that changed when he got closer to his house and saw the familiar black car parked next to the sidewalk. Leon took a deep breath and turned into his drive way. When he eventually turned off his truck he just sat there for a few seconds until he heard a car door's slam.

When Leon got out of his truck Cloud was there, just leaning against his own car. Leon paused to see if the vampire would look up but he didn't, in fact Cloud looked like he was in deep thought. Leon closed his door a little too hard and this made Cloud look up, a cool smile slowly coming onto his perfect lips. Some of Leon's insecure thoughts blew away and even more did the moment Cloud started moving toward him. " Hey. " Cloud greeted.

" Evening. " Leon grinned and hit the lock button on his car remote.

" How was work? " Cloud asked when they started to move toward the door.

" Same old same old. " Leon then paused, contemplating telling Cloud about the rumor. " Turn any heads lately? " he asked the blond man. Cloud shrugged. His friend didn't seem to care too much about others noticing them or about the town in general. They'd moved on and clearly had more concerning business wherever they lived now. That made a part of Leon squirm.

" Sora's not home. " Cloud remarked. Anyone else would've found this remark unsettling for a variety of reasons but Leon wasn't phased at all. It was the truth and he knew how Cloud was able to nail that truth. What it must be like to have hearing that damn sharp. Perhaps he should've taken Cloud up on the offer. _And face eternity longing for something I can never have? No thanks._

A few seconds of darkness greeted them when they got in until Cloud found the switch on the opposite wall, not that he needed but Leon did. " I don't mind waiting while you take a shower. " Cloud suddenly told him. Leon smiled with a chuckle complementing the action. How astute of the vampire.

" You could always take one with me. " Leon teased. But Cloud did not come back with a witty remark and a competing smile, instead he briefly glanced down then back up at Leon.

" Leon we need to stop. " Cloud's tone was dead serious and caught his friend off guard. Leon knew what he meant but his mind insisted on playing dumb anyway.

" I don't-"

" _Yes_ , you do. " Cloud cut him off.

Leon's mind started flip flopping. He knew what this was and knew it would eventually happen but he didn't want it to. Maybe if he just fought it? " What's the harm? Surely he wouldn't be threatened by a mere human like me? " Leon gestured to himself for emphasis. Cloud just shook his head as a look of regret changed his face. " Cloud? " Leon pressed.

" I shouldn't have said yes to you the first time and I should've stopped when he found out. " Cloud ran a hand through his golden locks.

" When he found out? So he's been letting this happen? Why am I suddenly an issue? " Leon frowned at Cloud.

" I took advantage of you. I filled your head with ideas. That was wrong of me. " Cloud continued but did not even bother to look at Leon this time. It pissed Leon off. He couldn't look him in the face as he admitted all of this and even worse he was talking about him like Leon was some pathetic little human. He was a grown man. He would _not_ be talked to or about like a senseless child.

" The fact that you went on until now, damn it Cloud. Just be honest. The great and perfectly calm Sephiroth who is in control of everything got bothered that you were banging a human! " Leon snarled.

The blond vampire let out a harsh laugh causing Leon to be taken aback. When Cloud looked at his face his perfect smile sagged into one of shame. " Leon he doesn't know about this discussion and even if he did he would not give two fucks. The fact that he has been knowing about our little meetings yet not lifted a finger to do anything about it should tell you all you need to know. " a short chuckle escaped Cloud's perfect lips " I shouldn't have done this. Just because you're human-"

" What the hell does me being human have to do with this? " Leon snapped.

Cloud did not answer, he just looked at Leon with an expression that said he pitied him and felt shame but shame for what? Cheating on Sephiroth? Leon let out an exasperated sigh and leaned his head against the wooden wall. His mind swirled with the current news and he greatly wished that this was all a dream but he knew better. Then it hit him, what that shameful look was. Slowly Leon lifted his head and fixed Cloud with a gaze that was a mix of painful emotions.

" What am I to you Cloud?" Leon asked carefully. The vampire bit his lip and looked as though he was struggling with something so Leon decided to answer for him.

" I'm a human. Just a human. I'm a small little pebble in your life. " a dry laugh escaped from him " How long will it take to forget me? Fifty years? No that's giving myself too much credit. "

" Don't say that. " Cloud was now looking at Leon with a hard glare.

" It has to be Cloud! Why else would you still have sex with me knowing Sephiroth knows about it? Knowing how I feel about you? "

" I thought you'd understand. I thought you'd know better than to think of it as anything beyond that but you're right. I should have known better. I'm sorry. " and despite the fact that Cloud was being honest about it Leon's mind could not, would not, accept that. He played with his heart. His little human heart. Maybe vampires had different standards about certain things but that didn't make his actions okay.

" Is that it? " Leon swallowed hard " Came over just to tell me that? "

" That. And that we'll be leaving in another week. " Cloud's voice was quiet. Leon just nodded, his gaze looking past Cloud and as his mind drifted he eventually started forgetting about Cloud being there. The sound of the door opening and closing further gave Leon's mind permission to drift farther away but he pulled himself back and walked over to the door to lock it as well as take in Cloud's smell for a few seconds before heading upstairs to get ready to shower.

When he got to his room Leon did not bother to shut his door and just sat on his bed. He let his pain take over him and bring forth a hatred of everything. He hated his bed, house, his truck, everything. He hated Cloud and he absolutely loathed Sephiroth. The man so damn powerful and sure of himself that he didn't even see Leon as a threat when he knew his own husband was fucking him. Leon was nothing in the face of the white haired patriarch. A safe fuck for Cloud was that Leon was.

A strong vibration from his pocket made Leon pull out his phone. It was a text Sora but he didn't bother reading it, instead he just threw his phone against the wall and didn't even care that he had probably cracked the screen.

" He was wrong. He was wrong. " Leon cupped his face and began rocking back and forth as he chanted the words. _But you were just as wrong. You had sex with a married man and got caught up in it. You initiated it._ Leon fell back onto his bed and let hot tears fall from his eyes. Cloud was wrong and adding onto that hurt was the fact that Leon couldn't walk away clean himself. He was a fool. What was a human to a vampire when the vampire could do whatever they pleased?


	12. Back On Track

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When losing a friend it's best to clear the air and make up as soon as possible and that's what Sora plans to do.

  
**Sora**

After having a few days off in a row it had felt like an eternity since Sora had been in the classroom, but after an hour of listening to Mr. Vexen explain formulas and which chemical neutralized which, Sora had about had it. The time seemed to go on and on with no end in sight. Once a kid had asked Mr. Vexen why time sometimes felt like it was taking forever and Mr. Vexen seemingly took the kid seriously and responded with something saying that because the mind hadn't experienced a significant milestone or whatever, time seemed to just drag on. That made sense because all they were doing was just sitting here taking notes with it being relatively silent.

" Please turn to page sixty-three. " Mr. Vexen instructed in a dull tone followed by the collective sound of pages being turned " Kairi please read the entire section. "

Sora's mind jumped a little as Kairi started reading but a minute after and it was back to partially cruising until his mind noticed that she had finally stopped reading. 

" Alright, now work on questions one through thirteen until the end of class. " Mr. Vexen instructed. Sora took note that he seemed less than enthusiastic today. 

" Can we work in groups? " someone asked.

" No. I want you guys to get your work done. " Mr. Vexen replied, his exhaustion clear to Sora and it must have been clear to the other students because no one argued. Sora gently chewed on his lip and set to work on the questions. Thanks to his mind being sluggish it took Sora a while to get through the questions which was just long enough to hold him over until it was time to leave. 

When the bell rang the class silently filed out of the room. No one bothered to mention that Mr. Vexen failed to remind them of the test next Monday like he usually did whenever they had one coming up. Sora guessed that they were probably hoping he'd forget. Sora also noticed how he hadn't told them to turn in their assignment. That wasn't like him, as he had quite the reputation of being a stickler about these things.

" Did you notice Mr. Vexen? " Kairi asked as she moved closer to Sora. Sora nodded in response. " You don't think he's sick or something? " Kairi went on.

" Maybe. He could just be tired too. " the boy countered. Kairi nodded in agreement as she came to a stop along with Sora. He turned to his locker and started spinning the dial on his lock until the latch popped out.

" So um...." Kairi started nervously causing Sora to look at her with a confused brow lift. She leaned against the locker while making sure to avoid Sora's eyes then bit her lip as a red flush spread across her cheeks. " Prom is coming up. "

Sora's face started heating up and his mind instantly began making up a nice way to reject his friend ahead of her question. He liked Kairi, she was his friend since preschool, but he didn't feel anything beyond that. He took a deep breath and tried to ease away the heat on his face but when that turned out to be harder than he thought Sora quickly opened his locker and stuck his face inside in an attempt to look busy.

" D-do you think..." she let out a big sigh " Riku would want to go with me? " she finished.

A stone sunk into the pit of Sora's stomach and suddenly having Kairi near him was uncomfortable. Sora slipped his messenger bag off of his shoulders and unzipped the main pocket to grab his science book out of it. He quickly stuffed it in his locker as the feeling of discomfort further spread about his insides. Suddenly he couldn't remember his next subject. " Did you hear me? " Kairi's voice now came from his other side. She had moved and now Sora had to respond, so he just shrugged.

" What does that mean Sora? " Kairi chuckled gently. It irritated Sora a little.

A bile filled reply threaten to escape his lips but Sora bit it back. He put in effort to give Kairi a reassuring smile like he usually would. " Try asking him Kairi. I'm sure he'd say yes. " Kairi's face brightened with hope causing Sora to silently curse. _Why the hell did I say that?_ A blossom of guilt sprung up in the teenage boy. Kairi was Riku's childhood friend too and she deserved Riku as much as he did. 

A silence between the two began as neither of them said anything else while Sora pulled his math book out of his locker. " Yeah. Just ask him. " Sora repeated as he stuffed his math book away inside his bag.

" Right. Just ask. It's not like he's said no already. " she smiled but Sora could still see doubt " Alrighty. See you later Sora." Kairi waved as she departed down the hall. When she had disappeared into the crowd Sora let some of his negative feelings slide out in a silent hiss. He had to tell Riku real soon.

 

Math class was a little better than his previous class. The teacher actually seemed into the lesson plan much to the annoyance of some of the students. His math teacher had a habit of calling more on the students who were less likely to volunteer on their own which meant Sora would be called at least once.

It wasn't that he didn't know the material, he did as his A had shown, it was just that math was one subject where he wasn't so enthusiastic. Now PE was where Sora truly shone. He could dunk a ball and fly past his classmates on the track. Riku and Hayner were the only ones who could compete with him. Sora would much rather be in PE right now speeding around the track or chasing after a soccer ball.

" Today we'll be doing things a bit differently. Instead of having you come up and do a problem on the board I'm going to let you guys work in groups." the teacher announced. In response the students grinned and started mumbling to their friends, already setting up groups. " Alright. Alright. Do the problems at the end of the chapter then turn them in at the end of class. "

Students started grabbing their bags, pens, books, and whatever else before shuffling to different desks to be with their friends. Sora thought about moving over to Riku but hesitated a bit until finally convincing himself to get up. But just as he pushed back his chair Riku came towards him with a grin on his face and Sora smiled. A flutter of butterflies danced in his stomach. It was a reaction that while not new, was one that hadn't happened in a long time. " Hey Riku. " Sora brought his hand up from beneath the desk but accidentally hit it on the edge making him wince.

" Ouch. " Riku smiled at him then he pointed to the seat next to him " Can I sit there? "

In response Sora nodded a little too quickly but Riku didn't notice it apparently. When he sat down Sora took note of Riku's warmth and had the urge to move closer to him so to distract his mind he went back to looking at the math problems in front of him.

" I see you've already done one, two, and three." Riku noted as he peered over at Sora's paper. With a smile Sora pushed his paper over toward Riku. " You'd let me copy? " the white haired boy feigned confusion. Sora grinned sheepishly. " Thank you. " Riku immediately began copying the first three problems while Sora looked on, being careful not make his classmates too suspicious. For some reasons teens felt the need to put everything out there when it wouldn't effect them specifically.

As he listened to the sound of Riku's mechanical pencil scribbling across the paper Sora took some time to lament on the current state of their relationship. After almost an entire of Riku ignoring his texts and calls Sora was relieved to have had that small bit of regular conversation at the register at the movies. So it turned out that it wasn't the end of the world, which Sora knew was an overreaction but still. They were friends again, for now. There was still the task of confronting that night and revealing his feeling for the older boy. That prospect still scared Sora. If Riku had nearly shunned him over just kissing in a drunken moment how would he react with a clear mind when Sora told him about his feelings? Maybe he shouldn't say anything. Maybe he should just-

" Yo Riku?" some boy called to his friend as he approached him. He handed Riku a yellow and black pen before leaning down.

" Yeah? " Riku replied, looking up.

" A certain person, I won't say who, is wondering if you have a date for the prom? " he suddenly snickered and Sora caught panicked whispers coming from a table adjacent from them toward the back of the room.

Sora's heart started speeding up. _Please say no. I haven't told you yet!_ Sora switched his gaze to his math book and stared at the problems in front of him. He saw the equations but didn't take them in. His mind was pin pointed on Riku.

" I'm considering my options. " Riku replied in an apologetic tone " Tell 'a certain person' that I will let them know. " Sora let the the breath slid from his lips in a silent exhale as relief calmed his heart though what Riku had said at first bothered him greatly. What did Sora expect honestly? Riku was hot, an athlete, and had a wonderful personality. He had moments where he'd turn into a silent brooding loner which only made the girls, and Sora, go even more nuts. No shit he had options. _I'm probably not one of them._

When Sora heard the boy retreat he started to actually pay attention to the problems on the page. He reached for his paper briefly forgetting Riku was still copying from it. His hand touched Riku's causing Sora to snap to attention and swiftly pull his hand away. " Sorry." he blurted out quickly. Riku just looked up and shrugged in indifference before going back to copying the answers.

" Almost. Done. " Riku muttered then stopped after a few more seconds and handed Sora his paper back. Sora started working on the next problem.

" So? Was the movie fun? " Riku asked while scribbling his work down for the new problem.

Sora grinned and nodded but did not answer right away. He finished writing out some of the problem then " It was pretty funny. Just about everyone in the theater was dying of laughter. I think Roxas may have been the only one not laughing."

Riku's scribbling stopped abruptly. " Roxas?" he echoed confused prompting Sora to look at his friend. The expression on Riku's face was a mix that Sora was finding hard to pick apart. His friend's gaze suddenly went off somewhere else causing Sora to gently poke him with his number two pencil and when it didn't work the first time Sora poked him again. This time Riku did react, with a rub over the area Sora poked. 

" Riku? " Sora looked at his friend with a frown of confusion.

" It's...just that that name is uncommon. " Riku suddenly grinned then chuckled " So, um, can you come over after school? "

Sora noted the sudden shift in conversation but willingly pushed it away when Riku invited him to his house. This was his chance! He could tell his friend how he felt while no one else was around! They could finally talk about things. " Uh, sure. " Sora responded making sure to control his enthusiasm. Riku nodded before going back to his work. Sora let his smile grow bigger before looking back at his paper and finishing up his work. His mind was buzzing with anticipation.

 

When Sora had called his brother to tell him where he was the young boy was surprised to hear his brother say yes. He didn't have any problem with it, in fact he sounded like he didn't care. 

Riku's house was in a different neighborhood, two neighborhoods behind Sora's to be exact. The houses were all the same across all the neighborhoods. Bland, three to four bedroom, with two baths, the layouts for the kitchen were between two different models so once you had been in a house different your own you had a pretty good idea of the layout of someone's house once inside. Out of towners who came to Twilight Town often remarked how bland the little town was but the residents liked it just fine. Ice cream and the Struggle Tournament were the town's revenue and it generated enough money to keep the town running smooth.

" My dad's not here. " Riku mentioned when he opened the front door " He won't be here for another two days. "

" Lucky you. " Sora remarked playfully " I don't think Leon would ever allow me to be home on my own. At least, not anytime soon. "

When they got to the living room Sora placed his backpack down by the couch. " Speaking of. " Sora glanced at Riku and saw that his friend looked a bit uncomfortable. A spark of doubt went off in Sora but he kept his hope alive. " I'm...I'm sorry. " Riku sighed.

" For what?" Sora responded, playing dumb.

" For me and Tidus pressuring you to drink. For..." Riku took a second to pull at his left earlobe then tried to talk again but he couldn't get anything out. Sora took a deep breath and balled his fists. _Be brave._ he told himself.

" For the kiss?" Sora guessed and received confirmation when Riku nodded.

Sora watched as Riku made his way around the coach to sit down on it. Sora himself did not move from his place but instead waited for his dear friend to go on. " I was drunk. My mind was swimming and I was having so much fun. " Riku further explained as he fiddled with his thumb nails " When I grabbed you and you giggled..." Riku suddenly fell back and looked up at the ceiling as his words seemed to fail him once again. 

Sora just nodded in understanding before walking over and sitting down on the couch next to Riku, careful to keep a small sliver of space between the two of them. He sat there counting out the seconds silently. With each second his will to say anything steadily slipped away but when he reached the eighth second Sora thought of that guy in math class. Girls were already looking at Riku for the prom and Kairi was looking to. If he was going to lose Riku to a girl then he at least needed to clear the air. " There's nothing to apologize for. "

" I just went off of impulse. That's not good Sora. " Riku sighed.

" I know but, still. " Sora gazed at Riku with a smile on his lips and then scooted closer. He saw how bad Riku felt and even though he did not mind what had happened Sora knew that it was the fact that Riku had let his impulses lead him. " I...I liked it." Riku blinked once before straightening up and eyeing Sora in shock. Sora's confidence dropped a little but he wouldn't back down. A blush spread across the brown haired teen's face.

" Really?" Riku asked carefully to which Sora nodded.

" Really." he echoed back. Sora silently patted himself on the back for making it this far.

Riku pursed his lips before staring down at the floor in thought. Sora gently tapped his fingers against the rough fabric of the couch, and thought about just coming out and saying it. Why not? He had made it this far. _Keep the train rolling Sora._ " I like guys Riku." and with those words it felt like a weight was being lifted from his shoulders but there was still some there. " I like _you_." Sora finished and sighed, pleased to have the full weight off of his mental shoulders. Riku suddenly chuckled and Sora's breath caught. It felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

" You like me? " Riku asked surprised and when he looked at Sora with amusement on his face it had Sora wanting to cry. This was a joke to him. This was a mistake.

" Just say it. " Sora choked out as he tried to fight the tears threatening to pour out of his eyes. Riku's amusement died and a look of pure regret washed over his face. He hastily scooted closer to Sora, closing the space and placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

" No. No. Don't cry. It's not..." Riku put an arm around Sora and pulled the boy into an embrace much to the younger teen's shock. " I just, never knew. Sora, this is good. " he held Sora tighter and Sora burrowed a little deeper into his friend's arms. " When you're drunk things come out. Things that you've kept inside for fear of being judged. "

Sora pulled out of Riku's embrace and looked up at his friend in understanding. Riku being afraid of judgement from their peers, while understandable, was a bit of a surprise. Riku always seemed like the one to not give a fuck about other's views but Sora now knew that this wasn't the case, at least not for this. Sora felt like Riku was letting him on a big secret. Had he told Kairi?

" So does that mean, you like me too?" Sora swallowed, his throat tight with nervousness.

Riku's smile grew and then he raised his hand to ruffle Sora's already messy hair. _Oh. Okay. At least I told him._ Riku then cupped Sora's face and kissed him.

Of course Sora was shocked but only for a while, thanks to their drunken first kiss, before his mind scrambled to remember how to follow up. Within seconds sloppy kissing became gradually better as tongue swiped tongue but Sora knew that he needed more practice. Riku didn't seem to care though as he gently nipped and tugged at Sora's lips, and in response Sora gave him more until they had to part for breath and nervous chuckles. Once breath had been regained they went back to it, this time Sora found himself sitting in Riku's lap and a warm feeling pooling up in his groin along with an increasing tightness in his shorts. Realizing that made Sora start to fall back but when Riku started pushing his own hips against Sora's it made the seventeen year old feel less self conscious though not enough to keep him going. Sora broke away but Riku just made up for it by going for his neck causing Sora to shiver and gasp when his friend made contact.

" Riku!" Sora gasped and found his hips bucking into Riku's. Hardness meet hardness and Sora had the desire for more but Riku suddenly pulled away and started fiddling with his pants. Sora's eyes widened. Yes, he was inexperienced in sex between two guys, and sex in general, but even he knew that they had hit a dead end. " Um, what are you doing? " a flushed Sora breathed. Riku grinned as he started unbuttoning his jeans.

" Take off your shorts. " Riku gestured to Sora's black shorts.

" Uh, Riku? You do know we're both guys right?" Sora lifted a brow. 

Riku rolled his eyes and pushed down his pants revealing a defined tent in the front of his black boxer briefs. " No shit Sora." next he started pushing them down and the tightness in Sora's shorts only increased. His heart started pounding as he kept his gaze on Riku's crotch. Sora had difficulty swallowing when the engorged member came out into the open. " Just take your's out. " Riku instructed " Trust me. " he assured Sora then started kicking off his shoes.

Sora nodded and started unbuttoning his shorts to pull them down. After a little clumsiness he got out of his shoes and shorts, next pulling down his own boxers and shivering slightly when the soft cotton fabric rubbed up against his hardening member. And when Sora had pulled his boxers off a hot heat filled his face. To be standing in the middle of Riku's living room with his dick out and aroused made Sora's awareness skyrocket even though it was just the two of them.

A now sitting Riku beckoned Sora toward him and instructed the younger boy to sit on his lap. This time when their hot members met they were no longer constrained by clothes and truth be told it felt more intimate to Sora. Intimate and awkward but he trusted Riku. Riku pulled off his shirt causing Sora to do the same.

" Kiss me. " he told Sora and Sora obliged.

This time Sora was better prepared and saw it coming so his technique was slightly better but like before Riku ended up sweeping him away. Their hips started moving almost instantly until they were frantically grinding away. Sora let himself be drowned in passion and lust as their tongues intertwined and their hips fervently worked. Sora gripped the back of the couch and let Riku suck on his neck, the lower halves of their bodies doing fine on instinct alone. Sora gasped and Riku moaned, their lust building to it's high point rather quickly and as steamy seconds turned to hot minutes Sora felt something approaching. Riku tightened his grip on Sora causing the boy to grunt a little from the sudden constricting hold but his mind was more occupied with frantically moving his hips in an effort to climax. 

Sora's thrusting started to become sparse until he had finally hit his limit with a loud moan, his hips jerking once from ejaculating, then twice, and finally a third time allowing his muscles to relax and breathing to slow down. Resting his head on Riku's shoulder, Sora let Riku get the last of his own thrusts in before feeling wetness on his belly. With a satisfied sigh Sora let his body go completely. 

" That was nice. " Sora puffed and slowly sat up to look at a panting Riku with dreamy eyes.

" Just nice?" Riku lifted a brow and grin at Sora.

" Well, now that I think about it that was wonderful." Sora breathed with a rosy smile. " That was sex?" Sora asked before playing with a snowy strand of Riku's hair.

" Yeah. " Riku swallowed, now having caught his breath " There's different kinds of sex despite what our straight dominated society may tell you. "

" Sex doesn't take that long. " Sora remarked as he wiped off some of their semen from his belly and studied it.

" This was our first time. Right?" Riku looked at Sora quizzically. Sora nodded then stretched and grunted.

Riku did the same so Sora started to get up. Riku wiped himself off with his shirt before handing it to Sora. An amused Sora grinned and cleaned the semen from his scrawny body. " I'll go get a towel so you can wash off in the bathroom. Then you can help me with my homework. " he explained as he walked away " I hate fractions! " Riku shouted from the hallway making Sora giggle. He took the opportunity to stare down at his now flaccid dick and grinned even more. This was the best day of his freaking life.


	13. Convenient Revisiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas didn't have it planned to go back to where it started but why not take the chance?

  
**Roxas**

Where were all the glasses? Roxas growled as he searched about the empty cabinets and found nothing to drink out of. He couldn't go hunting, well he could but he risked pissing off his father, and he was thirsty as fuck so as the seconds passed Roxas found himself wanting to just say "fuck it" and go looking for someone to drain. " How do they expect me to eat when I'm not allowed to go and find food?" he asked out loud.

As he stood back up Roxas smelt Loz and heard him walk into the foyer. The blond boy immediately headed toward the swinging door, ready to give Loz an earful despite the fact that he knew it wouldn't solve anything. But when Roxas reached the door it suddenly swung open almost hitting him in the face. " Watch it! " he frowned at Loz as the older vampire strolled into the kitchen.

" Back it up short stack. " he playful pushed Roxas to the side before going over to the sink.

" There's no glasses. " Roxas informed his uncle in a grumpy tone.

Loz said nothing, instead he just opened the cabinet below the sink before squatting down. Roxas tried to see what he was doing but his uncle's big form blocked his view. All Roxas could see was the back of his black shirt and a nice view of his ass but that didn't stop the boy from trying to look around his uncle, to no avail of course. He could only guess as to what Loz was doing as he worked on something. Whatever it was though Roxas could hear a top of some sort being lifted off and then some plastic being moved about. Loz grunted before the sound of him fastening what might have been a lid back onto whatever was down there. Finally he stood back up then gently kicked the door closed. " Here. " he held out a big packet of red liquid that Roxas needed no guess as to what it was. He grabbed the packet muttering a quick thank you as he began to rip open the top. " Don't spill it." Loz mentioned casually as he started to open his own. 

Roxas hungrily gulped down the blood but managed to stop himself after four gulps. He licked away the blood trailing down the corner of his mouth which earned a low bark of laughter from Loz.

" What?" Roxas asked with a knowing grin.

" Don't choke. " his uncle warned. Roxas rolled his blue eyes. Like he would choke.

He took a couple more gulps. " Going to see your little boyfriend today?" Loz teased.

Roxas took a moment to twirl his tongue about his mouth, savoring the taste of the blood before replying. " He said he had to help his friend with a project. " Roxas shrugged.

Loz took three large swallows of his own pack before heading to the kitchen door. " Why don't you drop by?" Loz suggested as he pushed the door outward and disappeared into the other room. _Drop by huh?_ Roxas grinned at the idea. While Sora had said he couldn't hangout _because_ he was helping a friend, Roxas didn't see any harm in stopping by to help Sora help his friend with their project. 

This was the third time Roxas had been down into Sora's neighborhood and until now he hadn't noticed how quiet it was. There was only a few sources of sound and those were the birds and a couple of groups of kids playing out in front of their respective houses. Other than that the neighborhood was peaceful and so different to Roxas. Twilight Town was small so everyone knew everyone in a way but to live next door to someone and have that familiarity was something Roxas hadn't experienced. He was always within the coven, only peaking out when something grabbed his interest be it human or supernatural. As he got closer to Sora's house a sickening realization hit him but Roxas pushed it away and refused to acknowledge it any further. He pressed on, speeding up his stride but not so much as to make it seem out of place.

Roxas saw Leon's car in the driveway while moving up the pathway. He knew Leon but wasn't that familiar with the man. He was a human his dad took an interest in when the family lived in town. Roxas recalled how Leon and his dad had a shared like for cars and weapons so they were often together when his father didn't have immediate need for his husband. Roxas wondered if the old vampire was ever jealous but apparently he wasn't because he didn't seem to really care about the human.

Roxas gave a few hard knocks, being careful not knock the door itself in, then listened for the approaching foot falls. Sure enough they came followed by a pause and then the sound of locks unlocking. The door opened and Leon stared back, distant for a few seconds before his eyes went wide. Roxas gave a smile, letting his fangs show a bit. " Sup? I'm here to see Sora." Roxas informed him. Leon however just stood there, studying Roxas like he was seeing a ghost so Roxas decided to tease him a little. " Did you start believing the lie too?"

Leon's eye narrowed in anger but that didn't phase Roxas one bit. Whatever the man was pissed off about didn't concern the little blond. " He's not here." Leon replied with a hint of odd amusement in his voice, it sounded almost smug. 

" I can wai-"

" He's at his friend's house. Working on a school project. He'll be busy all weekend I assume." Leon shrugged.

A wave of disappointment washed over Roxas but he just nodded and turned to leave, not even bothering to say goodbye. The sound of the door closing was distant as Roxas walked across the lawn and back onto the sidewalk. He took a deep breath as he continued down the sidewalk. Another realization was coming up but Roxas pushed that one away too, this time whatever it was not having enough time to present itself to him. A foreboding feeling rose within him, warning Roxas not to dwell on whatever it was that was trying to come up.

" What now? " he asked to no one. Sora was busy at his friend's house, whoever that was, maybe Riku or maybe that girl with the red hair. Maybe-

" Hey Roxas!" a girl called out causing Roxas to look up in surprise. 

Coming his way were Sora's three friends from the movies, waving their arms at him. _Hayner, Pence, and Olette._ he smiled and waved back at them. A swell of hopeful emotion made Roxas break into a careful jog toward them. It was nice to see them again. " Sup guys." he greeted them as he came up.

" Yo. " Pence grinned.

" Afternoon." Olette winked at him.

" Sup man." Hayner extended his fist out prompting Roxas to do the same leading into a fist bump. " Early bird huh?"

Roxas grinned then shook his head. " Came to see Sora. He's not here though."

All three of them looked briefly disappointed but they quickly shrugged it off. " Oh well." Hayner grinned at Roxas " Guess we'll have to do some sleuthing with just us."

"Uh?" Roxas looked at him in confusion. Did he mean the four of them or three?

" If you're not too busy?" Olette chimed in. 

" Um, sure why not." Roxas replied. It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.

The group of three became four with Roxas's addition and they headed back out of the neighborhood. As the quartet made their way Pence explained more about their adventure. They were investigating the Seven Wonders as they were called. The name rung a bell with Roxas. He had heard about them and even had investigated them himself but they had turned out to be bogus. Luckily the trio had already looked into most of them, the only one having not been looked into being the mansion and when Pence brought that up Roxas quickly formed an excuse.

" Don't think that'll be possible." Roxas spoke up.

" Why not?" Hayner challenged.

Roxas scrambled to pull some words together. " Oh yeah, the guard." Olette nodded in understanding. Roxas let out a silent sigh of relief. _Thanks Olette._ Pence and Hayner both understood and gave words of defeat. " Oh well." Olette puffed as they came out of the neighborhood and headed into town. Looked like Roxas had ruined the fun but in this case that was good. He didn't want them getting suspicious when he tried to mess up their search. That, and either Loz or Yazoo was going to be at the house and if Loz was there the older vampire would have no qualms with snapping the trio's neck in an instant. The idea of getting his three new friends killed because he wanted to indulge them made Roxas feel uneasy.

" So what now?" Hayner asked, defeated, while he slumped down onto a white bench. Roxas went to sit beside him.

" I'm sure there's something else." Roxas tried to reassure his friend.

" There is." Pence confirmed. He and Olette approached the two boys with Olette handing them each a blue ice cream bar. Roxas remembered what these were. Sea Salt ice cream. He loved these and still did. Everyday after school he'd make a trip to the ice cream shop and buy him bar. Roxas wondered if the same ice cream girl still worked there, it had only been a year after all.

" And what is that?" Hayner asked skeptically.

" The Almasy house." Pence replied and with that a silence followed.

Olette gave a disapproving look and Hayner, for once, didn't look so cocky. He seemed really hesitent but Pence was surer then ever if his expression said anything. Suddenly they all looked at Roxas who gave an awkward shrug. He didn't know what to say for a moment then " Why not?" In response Olette and Hayner looked at one another before nodded in silent agreement.

" To the old Almasy house." Pence whispered dramatically.

 

Throughout the walk to the Almasy's place Roxas had remained quiet only speaking when spoken to. The feeling of doubt moved within him, like a wave lapping against a shore. It would come forward only to pull back and it had Roxas wondering. Usually he would never feel like this. The young vampire was powerful, fast, and a god among these little humans. This was all his father's fault. Making him doubt Sora was doing this. Sure the three human before him were fun to hangout with but it wasn't like he wouldn't be able to find more like them.

" Looks like there's no one around." Hayner suddenly spoke.

They all looked around and saw big lush lawns with no one on them. Roxas however could hear people inside their houses. Some were in the kitchen making food while their kids were running around the house making noise. A guy let out a loud laugh followed by more laughter joining him. " I think I smell smoke." Olette observed " Someone's grilling food."

Roxas could smell it to. Pork, beef, and chicken. The husky smell of charcoal hit his nostrils making Roxas almost choke but after a few more intakes he got used to it. The smell was coming from multiple houses and he could also smell chlorine with it's own strong smell but it and the charcoal seemed to be fighting for dominance. A child shrieked joyfully followed by the sound of multiple splashes. Pool parties.

"We're here." Pence announced.

Memories flashed in Roxas's mind as the old mansion loomed in front of them. Not waiting for them to continue Roxas went around them and headed to the side of the house. The three protested but Roxas turned on them and silenced them with a look. " We can get in going through the side but we need to hurry before we're seen." again Roxas did not bother to wait and just kept moving forward. They followed of course but by the time Roxas was at the side gate Hayner , Pence, and Olette were just catching up.

" Slow down man. No one's gonna see us." Hayner tried to reassure him but Roxas just ignored him and studied the gate. It was apart of a tall fence of wood, most likely to discourage trespassers and nosy teens looking for a rumor, and had a small keyhole sitting on the lower part of a latch. Roxas gave a small amused smile before grabbing the gate with one hand and the fence with the other. He then pulled the gate back with a firm yank causing the latching to break apart with a loud snap. Roxas wasted no time and went through the gate. " Holy crap man!" Hayner exclaimed in a hushed voice as he giddily walked beside Roxas " The way you snapped that lock was crazy!"

Roxas shrugged but gave a prideful grin anyway. His body was starting to tingle as a rush of satisfaction flowed through his veins. " So where do you want to go?" Roxas asked them. He had delegated himself to team muscle. Hayner and Olette looked to Pence who just pointed to the woods ahead of them. When Roxas stared ahead his mind flashed with blood filled memories. The screaming and the overwhelming smell of blood combined with sexual satisfaction from every kill. Remembering it got him in the mood most of the time.

" Uh Roxas?" someone's voice reached out to him as the memories started swarming. Then someone shook him causing Roxas to come back to his senses. " Yo Roxas are you okay?" Hayner asked with a look of concern on his face. Roxas frowned, he felt fine. " You're breathing hard." and at that Roxas did start to notice that his breathing was quick. He took a few seconds to calm down, regulating his breathing until his heart was once again at it's usual slow pace.

" If you don't want to go in you don't have to." Olette smiled warmly at him. Roxas just shook his head to insist that he was fine and he was.

" What'll we find in the woods anyway?" Hayner asked. No one gave an answer and Pence just shrugged.

" It'll give us something to do." Roxas shrugged.

" True. Plus it's not like we can just break into the house." Olette spoke up to side with Roxas.

" We busted the lock on the side gate already Olette, why stop there?" Hayner snorted. Roxas chuckled at the statement which earned him a prideful grin from the other teen.

" Come on guys." Roxas urged " We better get moving before someone comes by." and with that the four moved toward the trees all the while joking and creating a cheerful mood.They managed to keep it up when they were three minutes into the tree cover but after some time they eventually quieted down and let the silence wrap around them like a blanket.

Roxas wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for but whatever it was Roxas had a feeling it wasn't here but even still he scanned the ground for something. Leaves, leaves, and more leaves with the occasional fallen stick. But as his mind was getting used to scenery his eyes caught something under a pile of leaves. He strode over to the pile and picked up a stick. " What's up Roxas?" Pence asked. Roxas didn't respond as he began pushing whatever it was out into the open. " Wow." Pence said in mock interest as they both stared down at an old cup. It was a red plastic cup or what used to be red. Now it was a dull washed out pink color. Was this from the party? Or maybe some people had gotten in recently? The idea that something from the party was still here gave a momentary sense of interest to Roxas.

" Next." Roxas muttered and the two went to join Olette and Hayner.

They moved deeper into the forest, all of them armed with a sturdy stick to move and study things. Every now and then they came across some trash like an empty beer can or an old wrapper, all of them which were faded. Pence got lucky and came across some money he got to keep of course. Olette came across a bracelet that she claimed as her's now. Hayner found key chain but had no interest in it so he just left the thing on the ground. Other then those little bits their search was pretty much fruitless which brought back the question from before. What were they looking for? His father had paid good money to make sure every scrap of evidence was cleaned up. Bodies were burned, memories were wiped, and families were paid off to keep quiet. All that work because of him.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were pulling ahead and didn't seem to notice Roxas was lagging behind. A bird sang out and what Roxas guessed was a squirrel moved about the ground but Roxas also noticed something else. He could hear voices coming from somewhere deeper into the woods. It took him a few seconds but he recognized them as Fujin and Raijin. Roxas looked ahead and noticed they still hadn't noticed him so without a second thought Roxas took off in a literal flash towards the voices.

When he got closer Roxas climbed a tree and crouched in the branches to watch them. The two were staring at the pond while they spoke to one another.

" I never thought I'd hate a pond so much." Raijin sighed tiredly then " If you could go back and change something what would it be?"

Fujin swept her white hair back. " I'd tell him not to come. I'd say that Seifer changed his mind." her voice had started to strain like she was about to cry. Raijin put his arm around her and held his friend close. Roxas made a puking motion before grinning and then adjusting himself to jump down. " Why are we back here?" Fujin choked out causing Roxas to freeze in place.

" What Seifer-what we did, was wrong. But what he did was even more wrong. We're getting revenge." Raijin explained. Roxas couldn't help himself and burst out laughing giving himself away in the process. Roxas halfheartedly tried to stifle himself but when the pair met his eyes he just let the laughs continue as he dropped from the branches.

" Yeah. I bet you'd get revenge." Roxas rolled his eyes " You remember what I did right?"

Fujin's eyes went wide in horror while Raijin's did the same before morphing into anger. His grip around Fujin grew tighter and Roxas started to see more of that buffed up big guy from a year ago. Roxas raked his cold gaze over them like he was inspecting a possible meal. " What happened to Seifer?" Roxas suddenly asked, his tone cold.Raijin shook his head then shrugged but that was it. Roxas crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. " Guess he's the chicken wuss now huh?" a cold grin appeared on the little vampire's face. Suddenly Fujin let out a scream of anger and abruptly tore herself free from her muscular friend's arms. She charged at Roxas with her fist balled. Roxas just stood there and when she was about to make contact he stepped out of the way. " Gotta move faster then that." Roxas taunted.

" Fujin stop!" Raijin called out before rushing over to constrain her.

" You'll pay!" Fujin cried out as a stream of tears feel from her eyes. Roxas narrowed his eyes in challenge. Sometimes Roxas thought about finishing the job and it would be perfect to do it now. They'd be gone soon, far away from this little town. His dads didn't even have to know and there was a pond right here too.

"Yo Roxas!" Hayner called out followed by Pence's and Olette's own call. Roxas froze when the voices of his friends called out. Fujin and Raijin also noticed and looked in the direction of the voices in horror. " You wasted your time coming here." and with those words Roxas turned and darted off back towards his group of pals. Midway there he stopped and looked for another stick before continuing back to them. When he did meet back with them Roxas made up an excuse as to why they needed to leave the woods. He didn't want Raijin and Fujin coming upon them. In the end though they all ended up heading back toward the gate leaving for the day. Beyond the little knick-knacks in the woods there was nothing to be found, or at least that's what they had convinced themselves to think. Roxas was sure it was close to the truth though.

 

After walking back the group ended up back at the ice cream shop. Pence was hungry and Hayner and Olette didn't mind grabbing a bite to eat themselves. Once again Roxas let them lead the way to a little cafe across the street. Luckily the line wasn't too long so their wait wasn't much of a drag. " Sucks we couldn't find anything." Hayner shrugged.

" Remember you said that the families were paid off." Olette pointed out.

" Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if the police were paid off to." Pence shook his head.

Roxas just sat in his seat, texting Sora while listening to his friends talk. " Wasn't Riku at that party?" Pence went on. Roxas paused and ran through his memories. He hadn't seen Riku there but he hadn't been paying too much attention to details outside of his own satisfaction either. He'd went and made his way to the back once he knew that Seifer would be there. He hadn't killed everyone either. Maybe Riku had escaped?

" Speak of the devil." Hayner gestured to the door. Roxas glanced up and saw that familiar head of white hair. Riku strode through the door and stopped when he noticed them, giving them a wave. He turned to walk toward them as someone else came in behind him and that someone else was Sora. Roxas was instantly at attention, hastily slipping his phone into his pant pocket.

" What are you guys doing here?" Olette asked playfully. 

" Just grabbing a bite to go." Riku responded with a lax roll of his broad shoulders. Roxas spotted Sora getting in line, not even bothering to come over and say hi. He thought about getting up and going over to say something but at that moment Sora went up to the counter. " Working on our fancy English project."

Roxas looked off in another direction but tuned his ears to Sora at the counter. " Let me have two turkey breast sandwiches with extra pickles and sharp cheddar. Two bags of dorritos, a water, and a sprite." he told the cashier. Roxas was able to pick up the dull thud of the clerk's fingers as she tapped the touch screen. The order was to go but he still had to wait for it which gave Roxas a little time to chat.

Sora started making his way over to them prompting Roxas to turn his head and look while trying not to make his excitement noticeable. His blue eyes met Sora's and he gave the brown haired boy a smile. Sora smiled back and waved. As Sora got closer Roxas couldn't help but notice that Sora's scent was, different. It smelled like him but he could also smell Riku in addition but that wasn't too out of the ordinary since they were hanging out. But even as Roxas formed a reason, something about it still poked at him but it wasn't enough to prevent Roxas from pushing it away.

" Hey guys." Sora grinned at all of them though Roxas thought Sora was looking more at him personally.

" Afternoon Sora." Roxas flashed a toothy grin. 

" Guess where we were?" Hayner gave a knowing smile at his two friends " Go on guess." he urged.

Sora shrugged before thinking on it. Roxas counted three seconds before his blue eyed brunette final answered. " The movies?" he guessed, his cautious tone telling them it was a weak guess. It earned an eye roll from Hayner and a head shake from Olette. Hayner gestured for them to lean in before whispering " The old Almasy place."

Riku frowned, his disapproval clear, and Sora looked at his friends with an excited smile. " You can tell us about it later." Riku said while pulling Sora back with what looked like a firm grip. Roxas gave a slight frown at the action. He hated how Sora let his buddy be so dang close with him.

" We don't have much to say about it." Roxas insisted, the urge to challenge Riku building up in him. That got him a look of minor irritation from the older teen. Roxas tried to stop a satisfied smile from spreading onto his lips.

" Even more of a reason for it to wait. " Just then the clerk called out Sora's order causing him to turn away from the conversation to fetch his food. Roxas took the opportunity to further poke the bear. " It's not even that big of a deal dude, don't be a kill joy."

These words did their job since Riku shot a glare at Roxas so noticeable it actually did kill the good vibes in their little group. " Um..." Olette was clearly struggling to say something, most likely to rekindle the mood. " So Riku?" Pence came in with a smile on his face " I bet a lot of girls have asked you out for the prom. Can you name drop for me?" Riku's glared at Roxas for a few more seconds before turning to Pence with a softened expression. He gave his friend a genuine smile and winked. " I'll try."

Roxas glanced the other way and gave a silent snort. Just then something, or someone, forced it's way into his mind. _Roxas. Come outside._ Roxas blinked at Yazoo's voice. Even his telepathy evoked a calming effect on his mind. He knew trying to worm out of it wouldn't be possible with Yazoo so he got up from his seat. He didn't bother saying anything as he got up and left and no one cared to ask.

When he stepped outside he found Yazoo leaning against the beige brick wall right outside the door. Roxas stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked over to his uncle. " What's up?" the boy greeted his uncle with slight irritation. Yazoo was allowing him to be irritated even if it was just a little, which was kind of him in a way because if Yazoo wanted he could make Roxas never hate him no matter what.

Yazoo stared down at his nephew from behind his tinted sunglasses. " The hunters are close." he whispered. Roxas sucked in a breath. Panic tried to rise but Yazoo was keeping that at bay too. " We might be leaving sooner then expected." Roxas could see a concerned look in his uncles green eyes. He knew who that look was for and Roxas wanted to glare acid at his uncle. He didn't want pity. He didn't need it. " So is that it?" Roxas replied flatly. Yazoo chuckled briefly.

" It is. Be safe, as always." 

" Yeah, yeah." Roxas mumbled.

He looked off into the distance while his mind swirled with the implications of this news but then it stopped briefly when he saw Sora and Riku walking away in the same direction. He could hear Sora laughing at Riku who was making a lewd joke and then, Sora punched Riku's arm causing the older boy to wrap a possessive arm around Sora's waist. In that moment everything grew far off and for a minute the news Yazoo just gave was painted over with what he just saw. His mind knew that the usual reaction would be for Roxas to grow angry, pissed off, but Yazoo was once again keeping his negative emotions at bay. Roxas then brought his mind back and looked up at Yazoo. " Let me go." the teen started breathing quickly.

" It might be time for you to return home." Yazoo suggested.

" I don't-"

" I think you do need to, Roxas." his uncle insisted rather forcefully. 

Roxas felt his will die down until all he could do was nod while waging a futile battle in his head. He turned and went back into the cafe. Their order had arrived, luckily Roxas hadn't ordered anything. " Hey." Olette smiled around a mouthful of chips.

" Hey. " Roxas smiled weakly " I've got to go so, seeya guys around." Roxas turned to leave.

" Hold up." Hayner reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. " Give me your number." Roxas nodded and recited his number before turning to leave. They all said bye as he made his way out. Maybe this was a good idea. Roxas wanted to be angry and his anger didn't just disappear when it took form, no matter how long his suppressed it. He needed to work out his anger in a safe location and that was at home.


	14. Delicate Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora and Riku are aware of their feelings for one another, but not all feelings have been laid bare. Friendships have become delicate all of a sudden. Feelings are becoming dangerous.

  
**Sora**

Sora's eyes adjusted to the darkness as he blinked away the sleepiness. The morning light was dim with the sky glowing a bright blue, the color before the sun came up. Suddenly Kairi's face appeared in his mind and Sora was hit with a wave of guilt. Kairi had revealed that she liked Riku and here Sora had went and had borderline sex with him knowing that. But he liked him too. Sora always gave and stepped aside for others, unlike Roxas. " Roxas?" he whispered low so Riku wouldn't wake. How odd that he would pop into his mind while thinking about this. It was true though. Sora did take notice of how Roxas was so blunt. He didn't seem to give two fucks when Riku glared at him when he was coming out of the store that night after the concert. The blond teen didn't even fear the curfew, and it still confused Sora how they just ran past that guard. Yeah. Now that Sora thought more about it Roxas didn't seem to be afraid of much. He seemed so confident. _Could I ever be like that?_

A muffled grumble followed by movement made Sora look over and see Riku roll over. Sora now had a good look at his sleeping face. Soft lips were parted slightly while the white haired teen silently snored. For a moment Sora had the idea to touch his friend's lips and brought his hands out from underneath the sheets but he stopped before his fingers had the chance to unfurl, chickening out on his little want. How awkward would it have been for Riku to wake up and see him touching his lips? Too lovey dovey. Instead Sora took a moment to inhale his friend's scent and cherished the faint scent of body spray. The brand was absolutely horrible. It had a powerful chemical smell that caused anyone within five feet to choke on it. Why teenage guys kept buying it made Sora scratch his brown haired head.

Slowly Sora sat up then carefully slipped out from underneath the sheets. The cool early morning air from the window tickled his smooth legs the moment they came out into the open. Gingerly he set his feet onto the wood floor and was careful not to make too much noise while he raised off the bed, but Riku's mattress was pretty noisy so the moment he got up the bed let out a low creak as if it was warning Riku.

" Mmmmm. Sora?" Riku groaned, and for some reason Sora felt a rush of arousal trail down to his member. " Everything okay?" 

" Uh yeah." Sora smiled even though he didn't turn to face his best friend " Just going to the bathroom." Sora heard Riku move about again as he turned around and headed to the door with some urgency in his step. He didn't bother to close the door behind him, after all no one else was here. When he got to the bathroom Sora quickly closed the door and got to relieving himself. He let out a huff and let the events of yesterday bumble about his head.

They'd managed to complete their English project despite the numerous short breaks they'd taken to fool around. Sometimes they wrestled and even though Riku got a little too rough the younger teen didn't say anything because the rougher he got the more touchy he got. In fact more than a few times Sora had felt Riku grow hard while they rolled about on the floor which in turn made Sora grind up against his best friend, his own hard on quickly becoming apparent. And when they finally did pull themselves apart it was a brief jerk off session before going back to the assignment. During their work Riku would mention things like sex toys and different positions. Sweet spots and foreplay. Some of those things made Sora feel uncomfortable and unsure but Riku was more than clear with his intentions of taking it slow, not only for Sora but for himself also. With all of his talk it made Riku seem so much more well learned about sex that Sora had to remember Riku was new at this too, or so he claimed.

When his bathroom business was done Sora made his way back to Riku's room all the while noting the silence throughout the house. It didn't take long for him to go deeper into his thought but then he smacked into something causing his mind to hightail it back to reality. 

" My bad." Riku grinned apologetically. Sora shrugged. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep. " So uh, yeah" Riku went in with a nervous tint to his voice " my dad just texted and he is on his way here." Riku gestured toward the floor. This news made Sora's demeanor go from calm and tired to horrified and nervous. He was suddenly alert and his heart was starting to speed like he was in trouble or something.

" But, that's fine right?" Sora asked in a low voice.

" No. My dad doesn't know you stayed over. In fact I wasn't supposed to have friends staying over. At all. " Riku pursed his lips and shrugged his well muscled arms.

Sora blinked as his mind took it's time to reach a conclusion and when it did Sora felt a little jilted. Riku was saying that Sora needed to leave. _Had_ to leave. He knew Riku wasn't trying to be mean but still. Hiding his hurt feelings Sora nodded then proceeded to go around Riku. He quickly found his clothes and put them on. Somewhere behind him Riku rummaged about and when Sora turned Riku was buttoning up a pair of pants with a white tank top hanging around his neck. The dim light of the morning allowed Sora to glimpse Riku's abs for only a second before his tank top came down over them.

" I'll walk you home." Riku smiled as he bent down to grab a pair of black sandals. Sora located his phone and picked up his backpack.

" It's okay. It's not like I'll be killed." Sora countered but Riku shook his head.

" I'm walking you home." Riku insisted before grabbing his keys and phone off the dresser. Sora just nodded and smiled. Riku was so kind. He wanted their relationship to go beyond what it was now.

 

When Sora had gotten home everything was quiet. He went up to his room and went back to sleep, not waking up until the sun had bathed his room in warm light. Sora did the usual morning routine. Brushing his teeth and taking a shower before throwing on some clothes. He didn't want to sit around the house all day. When he went out he'd most likely find Hayner, Pence, and Olette strolling around. He didn't want to see Kairi right now.

As he headed out Sora noticed Leon sitting in the living room. " I'm going out!" Sora called but Leon did not respond so he repeated himself. " I'm going out! " but Leon still didn't answer. Sora rolled his eyes in minor annoyance before going over to his big brother where he firmly gripped his shoulders. " Leon? Hello?" he shook him as hard as he could to get a reaction. Leon shrugged out of his grip in response. _Why is he acting so moody?_

" Are you okay Leon?" Sora leaned his head onto his big brother's shoulder and waited. A few seconds passed.

" Yeah." Leon replied in a gloomy tone. Sora nuzzled him and closed his eyes as he took in his smell.

" You don't sound okay." Sora replied quietly. Leon said nothing which Sora took to mean he didn't want to talk. What could've had his usually neutral brother so far to one side of the emotional spectrum? Sora let his mind race until something struck out at him.

Today was the anniversary of the day their dad walked out on them, or to be more specific, the day he literally walked out and left Sora home alone for three days before coming back and packing his things, then leaving immediately after. He remembered sitting on the couch wondering what he did wrong while Leon shouted at his dad on the phone. Sora may have been young back then but he could remember their family falling apart shortly after his mother's passing. Leon would claim that his father didn't care about the death of their mother but that was wrong. Just because he was emotionally reserved at the funeral didn't mean he did not care. Leon was just being dramatic as a way to cope.

" Where do you think he is?" Sora whispered.

" Who?" Leon asked absently.

" Dad." Sora answered carefully.

" Don't know. Don't care." Leon muttered.

Sora closed his eyes briefly before raising up. He knew what Leon's replies meant. Stop asking because he wasn't interested enough to go on. " I'm going out. I'll be back before dinner." Sora spoke changing the subject. Leon absently nodded his head. Sora turned away and pulled out his phone. He thought to text Hayner but then he saw Roxas in the contacts and decided to shoot him a quick text.

 

He wished someone had been walking with him on his way to the cafe so that his mind could have been distracted from his father's memory. Luckily when he got to the cafe he saw Riku but then he noticed Kairi too. The memories of his father had been washed away by suspicion and what was probably jealousy at the sight of his red headed friend. He swallowed these feelings, however, as he waved at them. Kairi was his other best friend and he didn't want negative feelings to mess that up.

" Sora!" Kairi exclaimed before rushing over to give him a big hug. More his negative feelings melted away thanks to the hug. " Guess what?" she chirped excitedly as she Pulled back.

" I'm not good at guessing." Sora playfully reminded her. Kairi rolled her blue eyes.

" I'm going to do it!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. Those words made a stone drop in Sora's gut. He knew what she meant and he didn't want to be around when she did.

" You...are?" Sora swallowed, his throat growing tight.

" Uh huh!" Kairi nodded eagerly " Tonight. We're going out with my grandma." Sora could see Kairi was humming with joy. _But he's mine._

Sora didn't know what to say. He just kept his smile, afraid to drop it in front of her. The fact that she would be alone with Riku made Sora want to spill it all. He wanted to stake his claim and keep Riku for himself. Did Riku even like girls? He had tons of admirers on the cheer team but Sora had never seen Riku react to any of them. He knew Tidus did but he was with some girl named Yuna.

Sora perked up a bit when Riku came towards them but when his eyes narrowed Sora frowned. Kairi suddenly looked behind him with intrigued expression on her face. " Uh, Sora?" she pointed past his shoulder making him turn and he almost jumped out of his skin.

Roxas was just standing there with a wicked grin on his perfect lips. The teen's eyes were hidden behind a pair of shades that he had begun to partially removed to look Sora up and down. " Don't jump out of your skin." he flashed a toothy grin, and Sora could of swore he saw sharp teeth. Kairi came up beside Sora. She leaned forward causing her red locks to fall forward. " Who is this?" she smiled. It was just like the one Olette gave. Sora was about to roll his eyes before he realized that this might work in his favor.

"This is Roxas. " Sora replied " Roxas this is Kairi." Kairi extended her hand out to Roxas but he did not make a move. In fact Sora noted the corner of his mouth falter a little. " What? Too good for a handshake?" Riku asked pointedly. That made Roxas turn his head toward Riku. The blond slowly removed his glasses and his smile grew tight. Sora quickly interjected.

" No big deal." he moved between the two boys.

" Uh, yeah no big deal." Kairi seemingly agreed. She turned and started walking toward the ice cream shop prompting the boys to follow. " So, guess who got her acceptance letter into Radiant Garden?" she turned to walk backwards while pointing at herself with a prideful smile.

" I got mine today." Riku grinned. His smile pretty much said what was on the letter. Sora was the only one who hadn't received his, then again he hadn't checked the mail yet since he had gotten home this morning.

" Roxas did you get a letter yet?" Kairi asked. She was trying to be inviting and friendly. That meant that if another awkward scene happened between Roxas and Riku Sora wouldn't be the only one to try and mellow things out. 

" He doesn't even go to our school." Riku snorted without turning to look at them.

They all stopped but only Kairi and Sora looked at Roxas with a shocked expression. There were only two schools in Twilight Town which were the primary school consisting of grades K through eight, and then the high school. Roxas was their age so there was only one option. " I'm home schooled. " Roxas focused his gaze on Riku. Sora had picked up the barb in his voice so he readied himself to calm a potential heated moment. " Haven't applied to any collages yet." he continued on while still looking at Riku.

" Oh. " Kairi nodded " You know my cousin took a year off before he went to collage." Sora watched Roxas for some sort of reaction but he didn't seem to care. It made him look rude, at least to Sora, and he could've said _something_ in reply instead of ignoring her apparently. Kairi then stopped and fixed her gaze on Roxas. " Not much of a talker are you?" her tone sounded a little agitated.

Roxas still didn't answer. Sora forced himself to try to come up with something but suddenly the sound of loud claps broke out. They all looked over to see a steadily growing crowd around something in it's center. They moved over to see what the big deal was and had to push their way through. Finally a man in a purple shirt came into view. His spikey swept back white hair drew Sora's eyes for a few seconds before the boy really saw the guy's outfit. It was flashy and purple. A lavender buttoned up shirt, black pants, boots that matched his shirt, and a black and gold fringed coat that was worn like a cape. He was pretty handsome.

Sora watched as the flashy man snapped his fingers and cards appeared in front of him lined up like a shield. The man waved his hand and the cards suddenly folded themselves until they just turned into cubes. " Who is he?" Kairi asked but Sora could only shrug. The man turned and looked at Sora or so the teen thought. Following his gaze, he came to stop at a wide eyed Roxas. In turn Roxas immediately backed away fast. Sora watched his friend in confusion before following him.

" Roxas?" he looked around and spotted the blond boy standing a part from the crowd, glasses in his hand. His expression was one of shock and he seemed hesitant. " Hey are you okay?" Sora moved toward his friend and gently gripped his shoulder. Something was wrong?

" Sora I need to go. " Roxas turned and started walking away while pulling out his phone.

" But-"

" I'll call you later." he didn't even bother to look back as he rushed off leaving Sora bewildered. Out of nowhere the crowd shrieked causing Sora to look over. Kairi and Riku were pushing through and making their way over to him with marveled expressions.

" What happened?" Kairi asked in concern.

" Roxas had to leave all of a sudden." Sora answered in a confused tone.

" Good." Riku growled. Both Kairi and Sora looked up at him in disapproval. " What? Clearly he was being an ass." Riku said in defense.

" He _could_ have been more social. " Kairi admitted cautiously. Sora had to admit that that was true. Maybe he was just having a bad day? Roxas had gotten along really good with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.


	15. Intermission - A Present Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since Sora revealed the name of his new friend Riku has had it stuck in his head. The name was familiar but when he saw that face it all clicked. How was it even possible? First the return of Raijin and Fujin. Now this.

  
**Riku**

Riku tapped the red phone on his screen to end the call with Kairi, he had to cancel on their outing tonight. Seeing that kid again had been the final straw for his ability to push his memories aside. What should have been the past was now becoming the present. Fu and Rai were back and all he knew was that they had to leave shortly after the incident. Would Seifer come back too? Did Tidus and Wakka know Fu and Rai were back in town? Why was all of this happening?

Riku let himself fall back onto his unkempt bed and let out a big huff. This wasn't what he expected the wind up to his graduation to be like. He rolled onto his side and put his arm over the side of his head in an effort to think of something else. Think of prom. Sora. Touching Sora. Kissing Sora. Sora at the party. Blood and screaming. The crowds of people rushing for an exit. Riku saw a couple of kids get trampled as others slid down the staircase. He was downright lucky. Riku had saw the kid, had saw Roxas, in the hallway. The details of that scene remained imprinted in his mind. The way the short blond was crouched over a body lapping at the blood just wasn't right. What if that happened to Sora?

" No. No. No." he muttered quietly. He wouldn't let Sora get hurt.

"Riku!" his dad's shout made the teen jump up suddenly. " Riku!" a loud whistle followed.

" Yeah!" Riku replied back as he hoped off the bed and ran downstairs, almost smacking into his dad. When he took a step back his dad chuckled.

" You okay son?" his old man asked.

" Uh, yeah. Just antsy." Riku lied. Truth be told he had jumped at the chance to focus on something else. " Well Mr. Antsy, can you go get us some take out and ice?" the gray haired man reached into his pocket to pull out a black wallet. He pulled out thirty dollars and handed it to his son.

" Of course." Riku grinned, silently happy to be doing something to get his mind off of his prior thoughts. His father then handed him the keys to his car.

 

About halfway to the takeout place Riku's mind wondered back to those dark thoughts from before. He tried to focus on other things, like the road and the surrounding buildings but they were nothing new and thus boring. His mind slid back to the memory of him, Tidus, and Wakka in the kitchen drinking out of red plastic cups. They were completely ignorant to the chaos going on outside even though some guy was running through the house screaming about blood. It was a high school grad party complete with alcohol and drugs. Who was going to take some guy who was probably hallucinating, seriously? Not the rest of them. But that was mistake because before anyone could properly fathom what the hell was happening more people started getting killed. A brutal and sickening wake up call was what got the three friends the fuck out of there. Did it make them cowards? Riku thought it did, after all they left behind some of their friends, but getting out of there when they did had kept them alive.

Riku dared to close his eyes for a few seconds before snapping them back open and focusing on the road. He was almost there. " What to eat?" he asked himself. The most bang for his buck could be found at Twilight Town's only Chinese place. Luckily his dad wasn't too picky as long as it wasn't pizza. " Wonder what we would've ate had I gone out with Kairi and her grandma?" the white haired teen wondered out loud. Kairi had once mentioned her grandmother loved Italian and that that was why she had her current taste. Riku himself was partial to Chinese.

" Help! Somebody help me!" a woman ran out onto the road causing Riku to swear and swerve on a dime. He cut right and hit the brakes hard causing his head to fly forward and smack against the steering wheel. He let out a silent cry from the pain and waited for his mind to catch up, next he slowly raised his head and looked out onto the road. The woman was standing in the road for a few seconds like a deer caught in headlights then something heavy landed on the roof of the car making Riku startle. Thinking fast he scrabbled to unhook his seat belt and get out.

" Hey-" Riku called out, but the woman was gone. He turned and looked at the roof of his car. Nothing looked wrong. Carefully Riku raised his arm and felt along the top of the car noticing dips. Whatever landed on top of his car left a mark. " Maybe dad won't be so mad when I explain." His dad was a reasonable man.

Riku frowned and looked back to where the woman was. She was gone, which didn't make sense. No one just disappeared like that plus she was calling for help so why would she run? Maybe whatever landed on his car was the cause? What exactly did land on his car? The only things Riku thought could make an indent like that would be another human. He ran a hand through his hair and noted the smell of Chinese food. Whatever the hell had just happened he was out for food and ice, of course he could always go to the police. Riku thought on it and suddenly had a fear of being sucked into something big like before. He shook his head. Was this all even real? He _did_ have hallucinations for a bit after the party incident and with that kid Roxas suddenly showing up they could have been starting up again.

" I'm here for food." Riku reminded himself and he got back into the car.

The restaurant was just around the corner from where Riku was and the parking lot was empty save for two cars. When he went in the clerks greeted him, Riku being a regular helped. He put in an order for his usual and sat down to wait. He looked around to find something to focus on so his thoughts wouldn't wonder again but nothing caught him. The seats were still the same red, though there was one seat by the window that must have been newly upholstered. The tables were clean. Riku rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Why did it seem like the universe didn't want him to forget? Was it karma? Karma for leaving some of his friends behind?

" Yo Riku, you okay?" the concerned words made Riku look up to see the familiar face of a classmate staring at him.

"Yeah. Just a little tight what with grad and all that coming up." Riku grinned weakly. The reply wasn't exactly a lie.

" Well just think, it'll all be over soon. Oh and speaking of soon, your order will be ready in a moment." the boy smiled before heading to the back. The moment his classmate disappeared into the kitchen Riku let out a shaky sigh. There was no way Riku could tell him about why he was feeling so stressed. On that night Riku's father had made him promise that he wouldn't speak a damn word to anyone about what had happened. Though his father hadn't said anything Riku had a good hunch that the Strife family had something to do with it. There always did seem to be something off about them.

The sudden vibration from his left pocket slightly startled him. Quickly Riku pulled his phone out and looked at the screen. On it was a message from an unknown number. 

**[unknown: R U busy?]** Riku frowned but curiosity pushed him to text back.

**[Who is this?]**

**[unknown:Sorry bout that Quick Silver. It's been a while, ya know?]**

Everything in his mind clicked in that instant. The only people who called him Quick Silver were Seifer and Raijin, and the only person he knew that said "ya know" like that was the latter. For a moment Riku danced between dialing the number or just continuing on with texting, then he began typing out his response on the screen.

**[I'm getting takeout right now. Why?]** Riku hit send and waited for a few seconds.

**[unknown: Can you meet us at the cafe?]**

Riku's heart jumped and his mind instantly shouted out _yes!_ , but he tempered himself before actually typing it.

**[unknown: c u soon.]**

 

Riku was careful not to go too fast and risk a cop pulling him over, but still rushed to the cafe. Nerves tickled his sides as he turned the corner and spotted the cafe. The cafe was situated on a separate isle across from the stores that had the misfortune of being squished together like most buildings in town. The only other building next to the cafe was the ice cream shop but there was still a fair amount of space between the two.

Riku found a space and parked the car. He quickly got out and looked around to see two figures heading towards him. Riku gave a wave and one of them waved back. A few more moments and Raijin's big goofy grin came into view, a more modest smiling Fujin clinging to his arm. When they were within earshot Riku found himself struggling for words. Odd, seeing how they had spoken already.

" Glad we could speak again. " Riku grinned. It felt nice to see his old pals again.

" Yeah. " Raijin absently scratched at his nose, his smile slightly fading. 

Just then someone moved behind them causing Riku to flinch. Fujin gave him a confused look then turned to glance at a tall man now standing at her unoccupied side. The lights coming from the cafe provided enough light for Riku to be able to see the man. He looked familiar with his white hair and charming grin. Finally it hit Riku. The street magician. Riku frowned in confusion. " Uh..."

A still smiling, albeit weakly, Raijin gestured to the man. " Riku this is Detective Setzer. " Riku eyed him warily. Detective? " We're helping him with his investigation. You know...about the Incident."

Riku gave an awkward swallow. Why was this happening? That was all supposed to be over! Detective Setzer extended his hand.

" Nice to meet you Riku. I'm sure this must be hard for you, but your help would be very much appreciated." the man's words spilled out perfectly.

Riku gnawed on his bottom lip gently before shaking his head. " I thought you guys had this all fixed. " Riku growled mockingly.

Setzer gave a tight smile followed by a nod. " Turns out there were some, _inconsistencies_ , and so we were allowed to revisit the case. "

Riku couldn't help but roll his eyes. They were revisiting the case? After all the damage had been done? It was all pointless. Pretty soon this guy would be paid off too. This was a waste of time and it was sad that his friends couldn't see that. 

" Will you help us?" Raijin's pleading voice cut Riku down to the bone. He looked over his friends. They looked tired, but most importantly desperate. Poor Fujin looked like she was about to break into a million pieces just waiting for him to respond. Even though his mind wanted to say "fuck this" he couldn't bring himself to push the words, or any other version of it, past his throat.

Riku gave a silent nod before staring the detective in the face. " Sure. I'll help. " The response gave Detective Setzer a satisfied smile. Riku leaned back against the car door and once again studied his old pals. _You're wasting your time!_


End file.
